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:
There’s something very powerful there: She’s demystifying a process that can still be shrouded in unnecessary secrecy, and making a choice many women have at least considered.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Baker Mayfield wants a contract extension that puts him in the upper echelon of earners, leaving his team, the Buccaneers, with a difficult choice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
"This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life," Ocasio-Cortez said, describing her ability to undergo the procedure as a "very privileged position."
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, said there was "a clear choice to be made by our politicians: further fuel climate chaos, or support a fair transition to a safer future".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
He got a lungful of urine and some other smells he didn’t want to identify and immediately regretted his choice of hideout.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
In rural markets, beneficiaries had fewer choices — such as none in Alaska, one in Vermont, four in South Dakota and three in Wyoming, KFF found.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
She’s also opening up a broader conversation about the choices and trade-offs adults have to make when it comes to love, life, work, and family.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Beyond administrative hurdles, students face difficult personal choices, such as family separation and mothers unable to evacuate with their children.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The overcrowding crisis in our prisons has presented him with a dilemma for which there are only unpalatable choices.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Every speck of anything that might become a wedding memory, she tosses in there—stuff like jewelry designs and invitation ideas and flower arrangement choices and photos of gowns.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Among some of the choicer nuggets of that conversation:
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2015
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
Cady Huffman, who won a Tony as the lusciously dim Ulla in “The Producers,” portrays various older women Evangeline encounters and is given some of the evening’s choicer material.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2012
Mahogany, satinwood and other rich timbers were characteristic of the style of the end of the 18th century; rosewood was most commonly employed for the choicer work of the beginning of the 19th.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various
When Apple bought processors from suppliers like Intel or Samsung, it could pick the choicest chips they made.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
They owned 25 miles — you read that right, 25 miles — of the choicest Pacific coastline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
They’re known around the world for going after the choicest cuts from their prey.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 11, 2023
Reiser thinks the high-end shoe store has, or had, one of the choicest retail locations in the city.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2023
I talked about Sue’s generosity in sharing three of her choicest chanterelle spots.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
