alt

¹ American  

[alt] / ælt /

adjective

1. high.

---

noun

1. in alt, in the first octave above the treble staff.

alt- ² American  

1. variant of alti- before a vowel.

   altazimuth.

---

alt- ³ American  

1. a combining form of alternative, used in compound words describing a nontraditional or unconventional version within a genre or category, often something provocative, subversive, or innovative: the alt-right movement; writers of alt-lit;

   alt-country bands;

   the alt-right movement;

   alt-weeklies;

   writers of alt-lit;

   quinoa and other alt-grains.

---

alt. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. alteration.

2. alternate.

3. altitude.

4. alto.

---

alt British  

/ ælt /

adjective

1. (esp of vocal music) high in pitch

2. of or relating to the octave commencing with the G above the top line of the treble staff

---

noun

1. in the octave directly above the treble staff

Etymology

Origin of alt¹

1525–35; < Provençal < Latin altum, noun use of neuter of altus high

Origin of alt-³

First recorded in 1985–90; from the use of the prefix alt- in Usenet, to denote newsgroups with unconventional discussion topics

Example Sentences

Coachella has its own version of the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction from Disneyland — and it comes from the most unlikely of artists: British alt rockers Radiohead.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Apollo has more of its assets in private credit these days than other big alt firms, and its shares pulled back with each bad headline.

From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026

The funniest part about posting it was deciding the alt text for the image.

From Slate • Jun. 11, 2025

"Yes some of it is the alt right, but there's a lot of bots. He regrets it and wants to continue working for us."

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2025

Some alt rock was blaring from her paint-covered Bose docking system.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan