else

[ els ]

See synonyms for else on Thesaurus.com

adjective

other than the persons or things mentioned or implied: What else could I have done?
in addition to the persons or things mentioned or implied: Who else was there?

other or in addition (used in the possessive following an indefinite pronoun): someone else's money.

adverb

if not (usually preceded by or): It's a macaw, or else I don't know birds.
in some other way; otherwise: How else could I have acted?

at some other place or time: Where else might I find this book?

Idioms about else

or else, or suffer the consequences: Do what I say, or else.

Origin of else

before 1000; Middle English, Old English elles (cognate with Old High German elles), equivalent to ell- other (cognate with Gothic aljis,Latin alius,Old Irish aileGreek állos, Armenian ayl other; cf. eldritch) + -es -s1

Grammar notes for else

The possessive forms of somebody else, everybody else, etc., are somebody else's, everybody else's, the forms somebody's else, everybody's else being considered nonstandard in present-day English. One exception is the possessive for who else, which is occasionally formed as whose else when a noun does not immediately follow: Is this book yours? Whose else could it be? No, it's somebody else's.

Words Nearby else

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use else in a sentence

This is a great chance to step out of the supporting-someone-else role and shine on her own.
Meet Cathy Russell, Obama’s New Champion for Women | Eleanor Clift | March 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
And there are also a few obvious-to-everybody-else explanations for the tendency.
The Impressive Hypocrisy of the GOP | Eric Alterman | April 9, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Everything else-even endowments given by private persons a few years before the Act was passed-was swept away.
Is Ulster Right? | Anonymous
He wandered else-whither, and came to something afterwards, poor Spaen.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. VII. (of XXI.) | Thomas Carlyle
You deliberately set out to marry, or else-how tie some emotional cable onto me.
Highways in Hiding | George Oliver Smith

This way shalt thou leave, other-else thou shalt go it on thy foot, for wit thou well thy horse shall be slain.
Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume II (of II) | Thomas Malory
Many of the original settlers have died; yet, like people else-where, their offspring outnumber those deceased.
The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six | Abraham Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for else

else

/ (ɛls) /

determiner(postpositive; used after an indefinite pronoun or an interrogative)

in addition; more: there is nobody else here
other; different: where else could he be?

adverb

or else
- if not, then: go away or else I won't finish my work today
- or something terrible will result: used as a threat: sit down, or else!

Origin of else

Old English elles, genitive of el- strange, foreign; related to Old High German eli- other, Gothic alja, Latin alius, Greek allos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with else

else

see in someone's (else's) shoes; or else; something else; something else again.

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