choice
Americannoun
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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.
-
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
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a person or thing chosen or that may be chosen
he was a possible choice
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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:
After days of despair, he said he made a different choice — to survive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
But she summoned her strength to appear in a few choice presentations— in Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, for example, and in a few performances of her husband’s music.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The once-humble outboard motor is having a supercar moment, with surging power capabilities making it the propulsion of choice for many high-end boats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
But over the weekend several Italian politicians criticised the FIGC's choice, noting that Pirlo, 47, had taken up a role as global ambassador for Russia's Fonbet last October.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It was so, so considerate of him to make it my choice when it came to advancing our...friendship.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Comcast has long tried to make Peacock an asset for its Xfinity broadband and cable TV subscribers, but recently began to expand its partnerships in recognition that consumers were getting overloaded with pricey choices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
If they can’t raise taxes, they’ll have to make tough choices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Travellers' choices depend on a whole range of different factors, not least pricing, experts point out.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Rather than changing people's political behavior, everyday environmental choices may mainly reflect values they already hold.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
Too much of it and we obscure the all-pervasive sense of contingency as well as the problematic character of the choices facing the revolutionary generation.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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
And the process of thinning may thus be continued indefinitely, while the choicer trees are allowed to attain their stateliest proportions.
From What I know of farming: a series of brief and plain expositions of practical agriculture as an art based upon science by Greeley, Horace
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
Hard as it is to conceive of now, one family, the Rindges, once owned about 25 miles of the choicest coastal property in Southern California: Malibu.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2025
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
Francie noticed how Miss Briggs, the teacher, beamed on them and seated them in the choicest places in the front row.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
