$re = '/word(?=[^>]*(?:$|<))/';
$str = 'foo word <word> <foo word foo> word word <> word <word> <aibwui word iawigw word>';
$subst = "<newWord>";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php