instructor
Americannoun
-
instructors
plural
-
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.
See Examples For:
The interim pitching coach: Leveque, the Angels’ double-A pitching coach and a longtime pitching instructor under Mozeliak with the St. Louis Cardinals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
That changed when professional mahjong instructor Samantha Richman arrived at camp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The 75-minute Yin Yoga session is led by a trauma-informed instructor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
For Beatrix, a 20-minute journey with her relative ended up being a long wait in gridlock, but despite the pressure she said her driving instructor would have been impressed with her performance.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Another instructor wheeled out a golden object made of dozens of spinning rings.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
None of the allegations in our investigation relate to these instructors, but the four women say the convictions raise serious questions about the college's culture.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Thousands of artists, filmmakers and musicians have passed through its doors as students and instructors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
In their report, the staffers also noted that there have been few well-run studies assessing the safety and efficacy of peptides, which are essentially instructors, telling amino-acid chains how to fix or improve certain cells.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
A BBC investigation in December found some driving instructors were being offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to sell their login details to touts.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Drawing from sources as diverse as aikido and barroom brawls, the instructors taught us ways to tangle with an attacking or resisting inmate that you weren’t likely to see in, say, a John Wayne movie.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
