instrumental
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.to be very important in helping something to happen.
adj.serving as a crucial means, agent, or medium in achieving a specific result or objective.
Simple“She was instrumental in helping the company win the new contract.”
In context“The diplomat was instrumental in brokering the peace treaty, spending months mediating between the two opposing factions.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'in' followed by a gerund or noun phrase.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B1 Intermediate
adj.music that is played only by instruments, without any people singing.
adj.pertaining to, composed for, or performed by musical instruments rather than the human voice.
Simple“The album includes several instrumental tracks that are great for studying.”
In context“The composer decided to remove the lyrics, transforming the ballad into a purely instrumental piece for the cello and piano.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
adj.related to a grammar form that shows how something is done or what tool is used.
adj.relating to a grammatical case that expresses means, agency, or the instrument used to perform an action.
Simple“In some languages, you use the instrumental case to say you are writing with a pen.”
In context“The student struggled to distinguish between the dative and instrumental endings when translating the ancient text.”
Teacher's tipThis is a highly technical term used in linguistics; most general learners will only encounter it if studying inflected languages like Russian or Latin.
- 04 B1 Intermediate
n.a piece of music that has no singing.
n.a musical composition or recording intended to be performed without vocal accompaniment.
Simple“The radio played an instrumental of the hit song while the news was starting.”
In context“The B-side of the single featured a jazz instrumental that showcased the lead guitarist's technical proficiency.”
Synonyms
“Photograph: sjvinyl/Alamy For Twist in My Sobriety, Pete created a definitive drum part and I had a ball coming up with the instrumental sections.”
“Harmonia Mundi’s recording is strikingly immediate, revealing plenty of instrumental detail without stinting the music’s sonic amplitude.”
From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis, equivalent to instrument + -al.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.