altogether

[ awl-tuh-thge-er, awl-tuh-geth-er ]
See synonyms for altogether on Thesaurus.com
adverb
  1. wholly; entirely; completely; quite: altogether fitting.

  2. with all or everything included: The debt amounted altogether to twenty dollars.

  1. with everything considered; on the whole: Altogether, I'm glad it's over.

Idioms about altogether

  1. in the altogether, Informal. nude (def. 1): When the phone rang she had just stepped out of the bathtub and was in the altogether.

Origin of altogether

1
First recorded in 1125–75; variant of Middle English altogeder; see all, together

confusables note For altogether

The forms altogether and all together, though often indistinguishable in speech, are distinct in meaning. The adverb altogether means “wholly, entirely, completely”: an altogether confused scene. The phrase all together means “in a group”: The children were all together in the kitchen. The word all can be omitted without seriously affecting the meaning: The children were together in the kitchen.

Other words for altogether

Words Nearby altogether

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use altogether in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for altogether

altogether

/ (ˌɔːltəˈɡɛðə, ˈɔːltəˌɡɛðə) /


adverb
  1. with everything included: altogether he owed me sixty pounds

  2. completely; utterly; totally: he was altogether mad

  1. on the whole: altogether it was a very good party

noun
  1. in the altogether informal naked

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012