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.
-
an alternative.
There is another choice.
-
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.
-
a choice grade of beef.
adjective
idioms
noun
-
the act or an instance of choosing or selecting
-
the opportunity or power of choosing
-
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?
-
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:
She wrote: “Michigan voters made their choice, and respecting that choice doesn’t mean I suddenly agree with him on everything.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The wrong choice — or no choice — could cost thousands of dollars.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
But in Palangkaraya, residents have no choice but to continue trying to get by, said Zikri Yanto, who had brought his baby to the clinic.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
The colour of your flowers is a personal choice, adds Wong, so there is no need to "follow the rules" of British tradition with white lilies.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
‘I didn’t say that. You can run or you can fight. There’s always a choice.’
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Save the Children urged regional governments to "take urgent, ambitious action" to tackle the crisis, calling it the result of "policy choices and a failure to act."
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Swinney insisted that independence would not hamper Scotland's security, but rather give the country "more choices".
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
At Cowles Commission seminars, Friedman persistently argued that their modeling choices were arbitrary and their complex general equilibrium multiple regression models didn’t generate predictions supported by the evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
To explore the relationship between lifestyle choices and emotional resilience, Begdache worked with Jason Cherry, a former Binghamton assistant professor of physical therapy, and former student Alexander J. Talkachov.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
The story of women in the Renaissance is the story of people doing their best with a set of very bad choices.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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
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
When the fruit and vegetable gardens are combined, the smaller and choicer fruit trees only should be admitted, such larger-growing hardy fruits as apples, pears, plums, cherries, &c., being relegated to the orchard.
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’re known around the world for going after the choicest cuts from their prey.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 11, 2023
But the four-hour sale of 106 lots at Christie’s did contain some highly desirable older works, including 15 of the choicest Surrealist paintings from the Bay Area collectors Gary and Kathleen Heidenreich.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2023
He has streamlined the book’s cast — gone is Babette’s gun-supplying dad — and trimmed or removed some of its choicest aphorisms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2022
I knew for a fact that Mr. Kite, the main man at Kalbro, lived in the choicest house on the street.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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