alternatively

American  

[awl-tur-nuh-tiv-lee, al-] / ɔlˈtɜr nə tɪv li, æl- /

adverb

1. as another choice or option.

   At the end of the unit, each group of students writes a book review or, alternatively, acts out a short scene from the book.

2. in a nonstandard, novel, or unconventional manner or style.

   We found significant differences between the traditionally and alternatively certified teachers with regard to classroom experience.

   You are not automatically more creative just because you're in an alternatively decorated meeting room.

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Other Word Forms

• quasi-alternatively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of alternatively

alternative + -ly

Example Sentences

One vendor sold t-shirts with captions proclaiming “LEGEND” alternatively accompanying pictures of Charlie Kirk or, for some reason, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts together in costume from The Andy Griffith Show.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

One almost gets a sense that the great doers of history were like robots, temporarily inhabited by an otherworldly spiritual force or, alternatively, were stick figures that Hegel moved about on his grandiose world-historical tableau.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

Depending on the president’s decisions, a restructuring could wipe out existing shareholders or alternatively see them realize a return of hundreds of billions of dollars on their investments.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

He says that he has "a steady flow of clients who are subject to Russian red notices who are either politically connected, or often pro-Ukraine, or alternatively as a result of corporate raiding".

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026

Ancient sources talk about his perishing at sea for his impiety, or alternatively, say that the brotherhood banished him and constructed a tomb for him, expelling him from the world of human beings.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• sooner
• willingly