May we count your visit with Google Analytics? It uses cookies and sends visit data to Google. You can change this any time under Cookie choices. Privacy

 Browse the A to Z list

Instrumental

adj. capable, kind professional

What it means

Meaning 1

Making an important practical contribution to achieving a result.

Reach for it when crediting a person or factor whose action materially enabled success

Local volunteers were instrumental in reopening the library before winter.

Meaning 2

Performed on or written for musical instruments rather than voices.

Reach for it when distinguishing music without sung words

A quiet instrumental passage connected the two spoken scenes.

Words to choose between 7

By register, from playful at the top to literary at the bottom, and by meaning across. Tap a word to see when it fits.
Meaning 1Meaning 2
everyday
warm
professional
  • Instrumental (this word)
formal

Meaning 1: Making an important practical contribution to achieving a result.

  • everyday

    essential

    Fits when the result could not realistically occur without it

    Careful Essential makes a stronger necessity claim than instrumental.

  • warm

    helpful

    Fits when a contribution assisted without being decisive

    Careful Helpful can understate an instrumental role.

  • professional

    crucial

    Fits when one contribution had decisive importance

    Careful Crucial describes importance, while instrumental identifies an enabling role.

  • professional

    influential

    Fits when ideas or authority shaped the outcome

    Careful Influential may alter decisions without doing the practical work that enabled them.

  • formal

    pivotal

    Fits when the contribution changed the direction at a key moment

    Careful Pivotal is about turning points and may not fit steady background work.

Meaning 2: Performed on or written for musical instruments rather than voices.

  • everyday

    wordless

    Fits when absence of lyrics is the audience-facing distinction

    Careful Wordless can include humming or electronic sound and is not specifically instrumental.

  • formal

    orchestral

    Fits when an orchestra's sound or arrangement is meant

    Careful Orchestral excludes solo and small-ensemble instrumental music.

Opposites 3

  • irrelevant
  • obstructive
  • vocal

Common phrases 3

  • instrumental role

    The translators played an instrumental role in restoring confidence.

  • instrumental support

    Her instrumental support turned a sketch into a funded project.

  • instrumental music

    Instrumental music filled the gallery between the readings.

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain Updated