instance

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

instuhns

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɪnstəns

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent; an illustrative example.
An occasion; an order of occurrence.
One of a series of recurring occasions, cases, essentially the same.
massively multiplayer online games
An individual copy of such a dungeon or other area.

verb

transitive
To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite
intransitive
To cite an example as proof; to exemplify.
massively multiplayer online games
To duplicate (a dungeon or other area) for each player, or each party of players, that enters it, so that each player or party has a private copy of the area, isolated from other players.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent; an illustrative example.

Used this way, instance is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

first instancesingle instancepresent instanceparticular instancesecond instancelast instancestriking instance

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

for instanceadverbCompound term
As an example.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

instantiationnounRelated term
A representation of an idea in the form of an instance of it.
instantiateverbRelated term
Represent by an instance.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: case offered as an exemplification or a precedent

exampleillustration

verb

Sense: to mention as a case or example

exemplify

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “instance” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.