alt-rock

British

/ ɔːlt /

noun

a genre of rock music regarded by its practitioners and fans as being outside the mainstream

"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

Etymology

Origin of alt-rock

C20: from _alt ( _ernative ) + _rock

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A couple of tunes veer in an alt-rock direction, such as “If I Leave,” which adopts the quiet verses/loud chorus structure of the ’90s to powerful effect.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

We’ve dug up a little something for everyone — from K-pop fans to alt-rock lovers and R&B/hip-hop nerds.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2025

The author, who has published two books on the Rolling Stones and a comprehensive biography of Leon Russell, is also a musician, fronting the alt-rock trio Buffalo Tom.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

After a somewhat fallow period in the mid-’90s, the veteran Los Angeles alt-rock band resurged with 1999’s eight-times-platinum “Californication” and its 2002 follow-up, “By the Way,” which spawned the chart-topping single “Can’t Stop.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2025

She married Scott Shriner in 2005, two years before he joined Weezer, the US band known for skewed alt-rock anthems such as Buddy Holly and Hash Pipe.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023