- important in making something happen
- The Conservation Trust performs an instrumental role in the protection of rural environments.
- instrumental in (doing) something He was instrumental in bringing about an end to the conflict.
- They were highly instrumental in bringing the business to Newtown.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- prove
- become
- …
- highly
- very
- essentially
- …
- in
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- made by or for musical instruments
- instrumental music
- The songs are largely instrumental.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- largely
- mostly
- entirely
- …
- (grammar) (in some languages) in the form that a noun, pronoun or adjective has when it refers to a thing that is used to do something
- the instrumental case
Word Originlate Middle English: via French from medieval Latin instrumentalis, from Latin instrumentum, from the verb instruere, from in- ‘upon, towards’ + struere ‘pile up’.
Check pronunciation:
instrumental