instructor

[in-struhk-ter]

noun

1. a person who instructs; teacher.

   Synonyms: pedagogue, preceptor, schoolmaster, tutor

2. a teacher in a college or university who ranks below an assistant professor.

instructor

/ ɪnˈstrʌktə, ɪnˈstrʌktrɪs /

noun

1. someone who instructs; teacher

2. a university teacher ranking below assistant professor

Other Word Forms

• instructorial adjective
• instructorship noun
• self-instructor noun
• instructress noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of instructor¹

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin, equivalent to instruc-, variant stem of instruere ( instruct ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

The teachers unions’ position is clear: Improving reading isn’t worth requiring instructors to learn new lesson plans.

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Asked what he might tell the instructor in the car, he said, “I’ll tell him I’m a professional race car driver and do you want to go more than the speed limit?”

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Sunday’s most intriguing sporting event won’t be Ravens versus the Bills, or Lions pawing at Packers, or even the Jets facing off against their former yoga instructor, Aaron Rodgers.

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I’d found him through Stick Shift Driving Academy, a nationwide network of instructors who, in their spare time, sacrifice their cars—and clutches—to novices.

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In Niger, where a coup toppled a pro-Western president in 2023, Russian military instructors initially deployed to an air base last year, as French and U.S. counterterrorism forces were forced to leave.

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Related Words

• adviser 
• coach 
• guide 
• lecturer 
• mentor 
• professor 
• teacher 
• trainer 
• tutor