alternative

American  

[awl-tur-nuh-tiv, al-] / ɔlˈtɜr nə tɪv, æl- /

noun

• alternatives
  plural

1. a choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things, propositions, or courses of action, the selection of which precludes any other possibility.

   You have the alternative of riding or walking.

   Synonyms:

   selection, option

2. one of the things, propositions, or courses of action that can be chosen.

   The alternative to riding is walking.

3. a possible or remaining course or choice.

   There was no alternative but to walk.

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adjective

1. affording a choice of two or more things, propositions, or courses of action.

2. (of two things, propositions, or courses) mutually exclusive so that if one is chosen the other must be rejected.

   The alternative possibilities are neutrality and war.

3. employing or following nontraditional or unconventional ideas, methods, etc.; existing outside the establishment.

   an alternative newspaper; alternative lifestyles.

4. Logic. (of a proposition) asserting two or more choices, at least one of which is true.

alternative British  

/ ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv /

noun

1. a possibility of choice, esp between two things, courses of action, etc

2. either of such choices

   we took the alternative of walking

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adjective

1. presenting a choice, esp between two possibilities only

2. (of two things) mutually exclusive

3. denoting a lifestyle, culture, art form, etc, regarded by its adherents as preferable to that of contemporary society because it is less conventional, materialistic, or institutionalized, and, often, more in harmony with nature

4. logic another word for disjunctive

Synonym Usage

See choice.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• alternativeness
  noun
• alternativity
  noun
• quasi-alternative
  adjective
• alternatively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• alternatives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alternative

First recorded in 1580–90; alternate + -ive

Explanation

When you're facing a fork in the road, you have two possibilities, or alternatives. You could take the left fork and see where it leads, or you could choose the path that goes to the right. Whenever there is an alternative, it involves a choice. A wealthy student has the choice of going to a public school, or the alternative, a private school. Alternative can also refer to a different way of doing things, outside the norm. You might say that a hermit who lives in remote a cave with a pet turtle is living an alternative lifestyle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alternative alternatives

That raises the possibility that future microbiome-based treatments could improve oxalate breakdown inside the gut, potentially offering an alternative to relying only on dietary restriction.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

The alternative, though, is to ensure its own destruction.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

Highly intelligent people often become extremely efficient at operating within established systems while remaining surprisingly blind to alternative framings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

In Catie and Phil's case, the alternative flight offered would not have arrived until Saturday morning - four days into their week-long holiday.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

But again, I was trying, if only half consciously, to represent the alternative.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Those concerns have intensified efforts worldwide to find alternatives.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Fans of Crown Royal probably don’t need to start searching for alternatives.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

Not long ago, Salesforce and other corporate software-as-a-service looked imminently threatened by any-day-now, AI-generated alternatives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

In Telegram groups sharing updates and advice about the tests, students were scrambling to find the cheapest and quickest alternatives to complete their applications.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

The farm has decided to let us do our booth at the festival, and to combine it with some of their resources on alternatives to traps, poisons, and hunting to manage predators and livestock encounters.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Related Words

• opportunity
• option
• substitute