instrumental
/ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/
instrumental adjective: essential or central; of great importance or relevance.
Adjective
instrumental (comparative more instrumental, superlative most instrumental)
- Essential or central; of great importance or relevance.
- He was instrumental in conducting the business.
- The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouthc. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Serving as an instrument, medium, means, or agency.
- Maxwell started back to his study, feeling that kind of satisfaction which a man feels when he has been even partly instrumental in finding an unemployed person a remunerative position.1896, Charles M. Sheldon, chapter 12, in In His Steps
- Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for an instrument, especially a musical instrument (rather than the human voice).
- instrumental music
- an instrumental part
- Of or relating to a case expressing means or agency, generally corresponding to the English use of prepositions such as by, with, through, or by means of with the objective case.
- the instrumental case
Noun
instrumental (plural instrumentals)
- The instrumental case.
- A composition written or performed without lyrics or singing, using a lead instrument to replace vocals.
- I recommend this album in the face of the fact that five of the eleven songs are the purest filler, dull instrumentals with a harmonica rifling over an indifferent rhythm section. The rest is magnificent […]1977, Stereo Review, volume 38, page 70
- A pause in the vocals of a song, usually occurring midway through, in which a musical instrument replaces the vocals.
instrumental meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
instrumental in Tamil
- ஏதுவான, கருவிசார், கருவியாகப் பயன்படுகிற, காரணமாக, காரணமான, கருவிப் பொருள்
instrumental in Urdu
- pertaining to the instrumental case
- آلہ کار alah-e-kar
instrumental in Bengali
- যান্ত্রিক, সহায়ক, যন্ত্রকৃত, যন্ত্রতুল্য, যন্ত্রগত, বাদ্যযন্ত্রগত
instrumental in Malayalam
- കാരണഭൂതമായ, വാദ്യോപകരണ സംബന്ധിയായ, നിമിത്തമായ, പ്രേരകമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- instrumental in Kannada
- ಸಾಧನವಾದ, ಉಪಕರಣವಾದ, ನಿಮಿತ್ತವಾದ, ವಾದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ನುಡಿಸಿದ
- instrumental in Gujarati
- વાદ્યસામગ્રી
- instrumental in Nepali
- वाद्ययन्त्र
- instrumental in Tagalog
- nakatulong
- instrumental in Indonesian
- instrumental
Examples of instrumental in a sentence
- Few songwriters have been as instrumental in creating the mold for American music.2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative...
- [...] Prosser was instrumental in the decision in 2010 to recommence publication of an annual health and safety report, following a period when it had fallen into abeyance.2020 July 29, Ian Prosser discusses with Paul Stephen, “Rail needs robust and strategic plans”, in Rail, page 40:
- Sweet voices mix'd with instrumental sounds.c. 1700, John Dryden, Cymon and Iphigenia:
- He defended the use of instrumental music in public worship.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to...
Antonyms of instrumental
Forms of instrumental
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more instrumental |
| superlative | most instrumental |
| Noun | |
| plural | instrumentals |
Origin of instrumental
From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis, equivalent to instrument + -al.
Words formed from instrumental
Phrases with instrumental
Words that rhyme with instrumental
- mental
- transcendental
- accidental
- complemental
- gentle
- elemental
- oriental
- rental
- trental
- continental
- dental
- experimental
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- incruental
- lentil
- predental
- temperamental
- bidental
- cental
- coincidental
- decremental
- documental
- emolumental
- environmental
- firmamental
- interdental
- interdepartmental
- judgmental
- occidental
- parliamental
- pseudodental
- submental
- supradental
- addental
- adjustmental
- advectional
- affectational
- agro-environmental
- alimental
- alveolodental
- amental
- antidental
- apartmental
- apicodental
- aplacental
- argental
- argumental
- atlantodental
- atramental
- bimental
- bioenvironmental
- biparental
- cemental
- cervicomental
- cliental
- compartmental
- componental
- craniodental
- departmental
- developmental
- diaplacental
Questions about instrumental
- What does instrumental mean?
- Instrumental means essential or central; of great importance or relevance.
- What is instrumental in Tamil?
- Instrumental in Tamil is ஏதுவான, கருவிசார், கருவியாகப் பயன்படுகிற. See Instrumental meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use instrumental in a sentence?
- Few songwriters have been as instrumental in creating the mold for American music.
- What part of speech is instrumental?
- Instrumental can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce instrumental?
- Instrumental is pronounced /ɪnstɹəˈmɛntəl/.
Words near instrumental in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: instrumental (page history and authors); instrumental (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); instrumental (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); instrumental (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); instrumental (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); instrumental (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); instrumental (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-instrumental.ogg.
Cite this entry: “instrumental.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/instrumental. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.