choice
Americannoun
-
choices
plural
-
an act or instance of choosing; selection.
Her choice of a computer was made after months of research. His parents were not happy with his choice of friends.
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the right, power, or opportunity to choose; option.
The child had no choice about going to school.
-
the person or thing chosen or eligible to be chosen.
This book is my choice.
He is one of many choices for the award.
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an alternative.
There is another choice.
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an abundance or variety from which to choose.
a wide choice of candidates.
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something that is preferred or preferable to others; the best part of something.
Mare's Nest is the choice in the sixth race.
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a carefully selected supply.
This restaurant has a fine choice of wines.
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a choice grade of beef.
adjective
idioms
noun
-
the act or an instance of choosing or selecting
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the opportunity or power of choosing
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a person or thing chosen or that may be chosen
he was a possible choice
-
an alternative action or possibility
what choice did I have?
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a supply from which to select
a poor choice of shoes
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preferred; favourite
adjective
-
of superior quality; excellent
choice wine
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carefully chosen, appropriate
a few choice words will do the trick
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vulgar or rude
choice language
Usage
What is a basic definition of choice? A choice is an act of choosing something from multiple options or is one of the options you can choose from. Choice also describes something as being carefully selected. Choice has several other senses as a noun and an adjective. When a person makes a choice, they consider different options and select one of them. For example, you might look at different colors of paint for your bedroom and decide that you want red paint. Your choice of paint was red. When making a choice, the options can be physical things, like food to eat, or nonphysical things, like which direction to drive or what to name a baby. Choice comes from the verb choose, which means to select something from different options.
- Real-life examples: Life is full of choices, ranging from what to eat for breakfast to what kind of job you want to have. Sadly, many people regret the choices they have made in life. We often face really tough choices where we don’t want to pick any of the options available.
- Used in a sentence: She was really happy with her choice of becoming a Hollywood actress.
- Used in a sentence: I’m pretty sure going into the woods at night was the wrong choice.
- Used in a sentence: We narrowed down the menu to a few choice dishes.
Synonym Usage
Choice, alternative, option, preference all suggest the power of choosing between things. Choice implies the opportunity to choose: a choice of evils. Alternative suggests that one has a choice between only two possibilities. It is often used with a negative to mean that there is no second possibility: to have no alternative. Option emphasizes free right or privilege of choosing: to exercise one's option. Preference applies to a choice based on liking or partiality: to state a preference. See fine 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of choice
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English chois, from Old French, derived from choisir “to perceive, choose,” from Germanic; see choose
Explanation
When you come to a fork in the road, you have to make a choice. If you can't decide, maybe you should flip a coin. If you have to choose between two schools, the one you end up going to is your choice. If there's only one option, we say we "have no choice," while "the choice is yours" means it's up to you. Choice can also be an adjective for something of high quality, something worth choosing. The choice apples had all been picked by the time you arrived, so you had to settle for the bruised ones.
Vocabulary lists containing choice
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Thumbs Up: Synonyms for "Good"
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Common Core Grades 9–10, List 5
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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:
In the years since, as other large sports arenas became options, Veterans Stadium became less of a go-to choice in the region, Guardabascio said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Consumer groups heard all of these companies bemoan how tariffs on China and other Asian countries, in particular, meant they would have no choice but to raise prices.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
Wordless storytelling, an homage to silent films, is a cinematic scripting choice that demands a deeper level of acting ability we might otherwise overlook in a movie like this.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
At least some of the departures weren’t by choice as several officials were notified Wednesday that their positions had been eliminated, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In life she had always put her faith in the power of a dress and perfect smile, and in death it was still her armor of choice.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Many of its major risk factors, however, can be changed through lifestyle choices, including diet, physical activity, and other behaviors.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
It included specific expressive choices already embodied in Salkin’s materials.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
In their 2021 blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan described the freedom to make her own choices as "liberating".
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Most people would vouch for specific items, such as a spare tire or a lug wrench, if they had limited choices on what to keep in their car every day.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Hecate offers you obscurity, choices, vague promises of magic.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
She had even choicer words for her ex-boyfriend Walter Hopps, describing his “Clark Kent glasses that chopped his face into rectangular squares and made him seem as square and cool as celery.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2021
Ms. Rubin-Vega has one of the choicer roles: Inez has a snazzy way with a quip, and Ms. Rubin-Vega zings them out with appealing élan.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2016
And so the weak part of the post-spinoff trio will clearly be eBay itself, the lean marketplace rump that will be left once the choicer meat is sliced away.
From Time ● Feb. 4, 2015
It's amazing that such fragile items survive - amazing the prices the choicer items can now attract.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2014
The most important use to which this mode of propagation is put is, however, the increase of roses, and of the various plums used as stocks for working the choicer stone fruits.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various
Ms. Chimo is a delight in the choicest supporting role as the peculiarly overeducated Saunders, whose unsolicited advice and unwanted commentary rattle Julia’s already fragile nerves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
They owned 25 miles — you read that right, 25 miles — of the choicest Pacific coastline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
But Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur and Zahn McClarnon as Maddie’s townie pals, who provide sardonic working class solidarity for our heroine, have some of the picture’s choicest bits.
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
They’re known around the world for going after the choicest cuts from their prey.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 11, 2023
Poirot sat down and soon found himself in the favoured position of the table which was served first and with the choicest morsels.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
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.
