as in plants
to set permanently in the consciousness or mind-set
a charismatic leader who instilled in his followers a passionate commitment to the cause
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Recent Examples of instills
Looking ahead in these ways instills a sense of forward momentum.
—
Mark Travers, CNBC, 19 Apr. 2026
Still, scrolling through TMZ’s posts of congresspeople instills a strange rush of Schadenfreude.
—Paula Mejía, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2026
Home Depot leaned into a cultural narrative – a homeowner improving their home via a project instills pride, the company said.
—Alexandria Mansfield, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Turn your backyard into your favorite getaway by using a combination of stone, wood, and water to create this picture-perfect scene that highlights nature and instills ambiance with the running water and crackle of fire from the fire pit.
—Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 7 Apr. 2026
The endless descriptions of the sand’s pervasiveness, its grit, and its dryness, instills a real fear.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
Coach Sark instills all that stuff in us.
—Sam Warren, Houston Chronicle, 26 Feb. 2026
That approach cuts the costs of medicines, creates local jobs, and instills reliance to better cope with global shocks.
—Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 20 Feb. 2026
This instills a slower methodical way of shooting, as the user has to look down to check the image.
—New Atlas, 14 Feb. 2026
Mark Travers, CNBC, 19 Apr. 2026
Still, scrolling through TMZ’s posts of congresspeople instills a strange rush of Schadenfreude.
—Paula Mejía, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2026
Home Depot leaned into a cultural narrative – a homeowner improving their home via a project instills pride, the company said.
—Alexandria Mansfield, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Turn your backyard into your favorite getaway by using a combination of stone, wood, and water to create this picture-perfect scene that highlights nature and instills ambiance with the running water and crackle of fire from the fire pit.
—Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 7 Apr. 2026
The endless descriptions of the sand’s pervasiveness, its grit, and its dryness, instills a real fear.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
Coach Sark instills all that stuff in us.
—Sam Warren, Houston Chronicle, 26 Feb. 2026
That approach cuts the costs of medicines, creates local jobs, and instills reliance to better cope with global shocks.
—Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 20 Feb. 2026
This instills a slower methodical way of shooting, as the user has to look down to check the image.
—New Atlas, 14 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instills
Verb
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Bean plants themselves enhance soil nutrition, benefiting its partners in return.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2026
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Fresh herb plants grace tables and cruisers munch on breads baked in mini clay pots.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Baseball is a copycat league, and success breeds imitators.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2026
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Conversely, a lack of transparency breeds distrust and erodes institutional legitimacy.—
Wayne Unger,
The Conversation,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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By reducing the number of characters to four; three alphanumeric characters and one geometric symbol; the system embeds a powerful retrieval cue directly into the format itself.—
Jay Gardiner,
Boston Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
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The approach embeds motion directly into the material rather than adding mechanical joints later.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This is a high-spirited opening for curious neighbors and travelers alike, with a mischievous sense of fun that firmly roots guests in their destination.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
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Louisiana dirty rice is a tasty meat-and-rice dish that roots its flavor in aromatic Cajun seasoning and the holy trinity vegetables.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Instills.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instills. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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