alternative

1. 1.

   one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen

   “what option did I have?”

   “there is no other alternative”

   “my only choice is to refuse”

   Synonymsoptionchoice

   Broaderdecision making

   Narrowerobversepreferencedefault optionpossibilityimpossibilityHobson's choicesoft option

Other forms of alternative

plural

alternatives·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about alternative

What does alternative mean?

alternative means "serving or used in place of another". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in alternative?

alternative has 4 syllables: al-ter-na-tive. The stress falls on "ter". In IPA it is /ɔlˈtɝnətɪv/.

What is another word for alternative?

Close synonyms include alternate, substitute, option, choice. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is alternative a common word?

alternative is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.