altogether

American  

[awl-tuh-geth-er, awl-tuh-geth-er] / ˌɔl təˈgɛð ər, ˈɔl təˌgɛð ər /

adverb

1. wholly; entirely; completely; quite.

   altogether fitting.

   Synonyms:

   absolutely, totally, utterly

2. with all or everything included.

   The debt amounted altogether to twenty dollars.

3. with everything considered; on the whole.

   Altogether, I'm glad it's over.

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idioms

1. in the altogether, nude.

   When the phone rang she had just stepped out of the bathtub and was in the altogether.

altogether British  

/ ˌɔːltəˈɡɛðə, ˈɔːltəˌɡɛðə /

adverb

1. with everything included

   altogether he owed me sixty pounds

2. completely; utterly; totally

   he was altogether mad

3. on the whole

   altogether it was a very good party

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noun

1. informal naked

Commonly Confused

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.

Etymology

Origin of altogether

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

Explanation

If you're altogether certain, you know it for a fact. Since you're altogether sure that your calculations are correct, go ahead with the experiment. Please wear your goggles just in case. Never use “all together” (meaning “all in one place”) when you mean altogether (which can also mean "all things considered"). It was risky to bring us all together again after so many years, but you have to admit that altogether we had a good time. Altogether, it could have been worse. It wasn't altogether bad. I suppose we won't do it again next year.

Example Sentences

This would mean slashing the benefits of some of the most low-income SSI recipients by up to a third — about $330 a month in Burton’s case — or ending their support altogether.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026

Those rules could cause a team to be demoted from one competition to another, like Crystal Palace were from the Europa League to the Conference League last season, or miss out on Europe altogether.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

What it also made clear is that Coachella is no longer a single cultural event but several overlapping ones divided across weekends, refracted through screens and increasingly calibrated for different audiences altogether.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026

Wei effectively dismissed Musk’s timeline without explicitly rejecting the venture altogether.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Within the scholarly community in recent years, the main tendency has been to take the latter side, or to sidestep the controversy by ignoring mainstream politics altogether.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• absolutely
• fully
• perfectly
• quite
• thoroughly
• totally
• utterly
• wholly