100 Best Synonyms for “Rather Than”

No.	Item	Definition
1.	acting for	serving in place of
2.	against	in opposition to
3.	ahead of	before or in preference
4.	alternating with	using one not another
5.	as an alternative to	as another choice than
6.	as opposed to	in contrast with choosing
7.	as replacement for	serving instead of
8.	at the expense of	sacrificing one for another
9.	avoiding	keeping away from
10.	bar	except for
11.	barring	excepting or excluding
12.	before	in preference to
13.	beside	compared with or instead
14.	better than	more desirable than
15.	by preference to	with preference over
16.	bypassing	going around instead
17.	ceding to	giving place to
18.	choosing over	preferring one to another
19.	chosen over	selected instead of
20.	content with	accepting instead of better
21.	contrasted with	set against
22.	counter to	opposed to
23.	declining	politely refusing
24.	defaulting to	choosing automatically instead
25.	deferring to	yielding preference to
26.	dispensing with	doing without
27.	doing without	managing without instead
28.	electing over	choosing instead of
29.	else than	other than
30.	eschewing	deliberately avoiding
31.	except	excluding in favor of
32.	excepting	leaving out
33.	excluding	leaving out in favor
34.	falling back on	using as alternative
35.	favored over	preferred instead of
36.	favoring over	preferring one above another
37.	filling in for	serving instead of
38.	foregoing	going without instead
39.	forgoing	choosing not to use
40.	going with	choosing this option
41.	going without	not having or using
42.	in contrast to	as opposed to
43.	in contrast with	as opposed to
44.	in exchange for	given or chosen instead
45.	in favor of	supporting or choosing
46.	in lieu of	as a substitute for
47.	in place of	instead of
48.	in preference to	more willingly than
49.	in someone’s stead	in that person’s place
50.	in substitution for	as replacement for
51.	instead of	in place of
52.	leaning toward	preferring one direction
53.	leaving aside	not considering or using
54.	making do with	using available instead
55.	minus	excluding or without
56.	more readily than	with greater willingness than
57.	more willingly than	with stronger preference than
58.	omitting	leaving out instead
59.	opposed to	set against choosing
60.	opting for	selecting in preference to
61.	other than	different from or not
62.	over	in preference to
63.	passing over	not choosing
64.	passing up	not taking or choosing
65.	preferable to	more desirable than
66.	preferring to	liking better than
67.	prior to choosing	before selecting instead
68.	putting aside	not using for now
69.	refusing	not accepting or choosing
70.	rejecting	not accepting instead
71.	relinquishing	letting go instead
72.	renouncing	giving up instead
73.	replacing	putting something else instead
74.	resorting to	using as fallback
75.	selecting over	picking instead of
76.	set against	contrasted with preference
77.	setting aside	putting aside instead
78.	settling for	accepting instead
79.	skipping	leaving out instead
80.	sooner than	more readily than
81.	substituting for	taking the place of
82.	superior to	better than
83.	surrendering	giving up for another
84.	swapping for	exchanging in favor of
85.	taking the place of	serving instead of
86.	to favor over	prefer one above another
87.	to opt for	choose in preference
88.	to replace	to use instead
89.	to the detriment of	harming one for another
90.	to the exclusion of	leaving out others
91.	to the neglect of	while ignoring another
92.	trading for	exchanging one for another
93.	turning down	rejecting in favor of another
94.	turning to	choosing as an alternative
95.	using over	employing instead of
96.	versus	as opposed to
97.	vice	in place of
98.	without	not using or having
99.	worthier than	more deserving than
100.	yielding	giving way to another