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Synonyms

by choice

Idioms  

  1. Deliberately, as a matter of preference. For example, No one told me to come; I'm here by choice. This expression replaced the earlier with choice, used from about 1500.

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.

See Examples For:

"I just got an email and apparently I just got retired, not by choice but because I am no longer allowed to compete," Van Leuven said in a video posted on Instagram.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

Kavanagh, 78, is a New Englander by birth and Californian by choice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026

Nada Reda Abu Sari, 82, however, has not stayed by choice.

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

Let’s also acknowledge that some new entrepreneurs didn’t become founders entirely by choice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

Whoever left these places left them by choice and at their leisure.

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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