instructor
Americannoun
-
a person who instructs; teacher.
- Synonyms:
- pedagogue, preceptor, schoolmaster, tutor
-
a teacher in a college or university who ranks below an assistant professor.
noun
-
someone who instructs; teacher
-
a university teacher ranking below assistant professor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of instructor
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin, equivalent to instruc-, variant stem of instruere ( see instruct) + -tor -tor
Compare meaning
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Explanation
An instructor is a teacher. One can be an instructor of just about anything, but it usually applies to teaching hands-on skills, like a water-skiing instructor or the instructor of the knitting class held at the community center. When you instruct, or teach, other people how to do something, you are their instructor. At a college, you might hear some of the people who teach classes referred to as instructors and others as professors. An instructor might teach only part-time, or be a graduate student, or, for the moment at least, not be on the path to receiving the title of professor. Still, instructors are teachers: they have their own classes and students.
Vocabulary lists containing instructor
Occupations
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List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An instructor from a shooting range where the boy practised was also found guilty of giving false evidence.
From BBC • Jun. 18, 2026
Air Force colonel with more than 27 years of experience as an instructor pilot, fighter pilot, and test pilot.
From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026
“Why not let them get hands-on experience? Why just have them sit and watch?” said Rory Johnson, the child development instructor at the adult school.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Lisa Baranik, who researches chronic pain, says she used to dump her knowledge on people, once even scaring off a yoga instructor by giving unsolicited advice on back pain.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
When she reached 18, it was a commercial license; two years later, she also had a flight instructor rating and an instrument rating.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
