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
- instructorial adjective
- instructorship noun
- instructress noun
- self-instructor noun
Etymology
Origin of instructor
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin, equivalent to instruc-, variant stem of instruere ( 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.
So we spent 45 minutes in a dimly lit room riding stationary bikes at intense speeds while an instructor shouted affirmations from the front of the room.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
A driving instructor says many in the industry have received "no information" ahead of the introduction of rules for new drivers later this year.
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026
The study's first authors are Stanford Medicine's Chiraag Kulkarni, MD, an instructor in gastroenterology and hepatology, and assistant clinical research coordinator Touran Fardeen.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026
Another conundrum involves the disappearance of a swimming instructor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
She had to keep working as a flight instructor.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
