alternative
adjectivenouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ɒlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv//
- United States//ɔlˈtɝ.nə.tɪv//
- United States//ɑlˈtɝ.nə.tɪv//
- Australia//ɔlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv//
- //ɔːlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv//
Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
adjective
- 1
Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
an alternative proposition
There are two alternative theories as to why this phenomenon occurs.
Reason would seem to dictate that it was an alternative offer,—either to receive $15,000 if the grantor perform the condition or $12,000 if he did not perform the condition.
Who is right, Augusto or Unamuno? In general critics have seen this confrontation as offering an alternative choice: either we are free or we are predetermined.
- 2
Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities. Presenting two or more alternatives.
alternative conjunctions like or
- 3
Other; different from something else.
Exploring alternative realities isn't just a game for boys. In 1666, Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, published a utopian fantasy of compelling strangeness.
- 4
Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground.
alternative medicine; alternative lifestyle; alternative rock
- 5
obsoleteAlternate, reciprocal.
He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to all things, and riddeth them from darkneſſe : hee hideth the other ſtarres, and ſheweth them againe : he ordereth the ſeaſons in their alternative courſe : he tempereth the yeere, ariſing ever freſh and new againe, for the benefite and good of the world.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos Proto-Italic *aljos Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *aliteros Latin alter Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Latin -nus Latin alternus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin alternō Latin alternātus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Latin alternātīvusder. Middle French alternatifbor. English alternative From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). By surface analysis, alternate + -ive. Compare alternate.
noun
- 1
A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities.
I gave you the alternative; you decided to stay.
“The cloister or a betrothed husband?” I echoed—“Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?”
- 2
One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen.
Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The Constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it.
- 3
The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted.
- 4
alternative rock
- 5
A non-offensive word or phrase that serves as a replacement for a word deemed offensive or unacceptable, though not as a euphemism.
Disability activists discourage the use of the words "crazy" and "insane" due to their negative connections to mental health, suggesting alternatives such as "wild", "silly", or "out of this world", which do not relate to mental health.
Forms
- plural
- alternatives
alternative · Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities.
although · Though, even though, in spite of or despite the fact that:…altitude · The absolute height of a location, usually measured from sea…altogether · Completely, wholly, or without exception.