Word.ws English Dictionary

alter

Syllables: al·terUK/ˈɒl.tə//ˈɔl.təɹ/

alter verb: to change the form or structure of. Also the misspelling of altar.

Verb

alter (third-person singular simple present alters, present participle altering, simple past and past participle altered)

  1. (ambitransitive) To change the form or structure of.
    • Near-synonym: tweak
    • No power in Venice can alter a decree.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    Synonyms:
    tweak
  2. (intransitive) To become different.
    • […] Passing the song of the hermit bird and the tallying song of my soul, / Victorious song, death’s outlet song, yet varying ever-altering song, […]1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems
    • All of these statistics are expected to alter, however, as they are altering in nearly all demographic areas.1987 February 22, Elizabeth Pincus, “Fighting AIDS in Nashville Means Fighting Closets and Conservatism”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 31, page 1
  3. (transitive) To tailor clothes to make them fit.
  4. (transitive) To castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal).
  5. (transitive) To affect mentally, as by psychotropic drugs or illness.
    • We don't know if he was altered on alcohol or drugs or anything […]2016 February 10, Sydney Pruitt and Claire Ricke (quoting Jeff Barrick), "Police: Man lying in street hit, killed by Capital Metro bus", KXAN

Noun

alter (plural alters)

  1. (multiplicity) One of the personalities, identities, or selves in a person with dissociative identity disorder or another form of multiplicity.
    • While the second goal would be best met if each alter were coconscious, the defendant should be satisfied if at least one competent alter is present to hear what transpires.2000, Elyn R. Saks, Stephen H. Behnke, Jekyll on Trial: Multiple Personality Disorder and Criminal Law, page 147
    Synonyms:
    headmate

Also used as

alter is also the misspelling of altar.

alter meaning in Odia and Arabic

alter in Odia

to change the form or structure of
ବଦଳାଇବା badaḷāibā

alter in Arabic

to change the form or structure of
غَيَّرَ ḡayyara

Examples of alter in a sentence

  • My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 89:34:
  • It gilds all objects, but it alters none.1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e]...

All 40 example sentences with alter

Synonyms of alter

7 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of alter

Forms of alter

Verb
third-person singular presentalters
present participlealtering
past participlealtered
pastaltered
alternative formaltre
Noun
pluralalters

Past tense of alter: altered

Origin of alter

From Old French alterer (French altérer), from Medieval Latin alterāre (“to make other”), from Latin alter (“the other”), from al- (seen in alius (“other”), alienus (“of another”), etc.; see alias, alien, etc.) + compar. suffix -ter.

Probably from alter ego.

Words formed from alter

Phrases with alter

Words that rhyme with alter

Questions about alter

What does alter mean?
Alter means to change the form or structure of.
What is alter in Odia?
Alter in Odia is ବଦଳାଇବା (badaḷāibā). See Alter meaning in Odia.
How do you use alter in a sentence?
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
What part of speech is alter?
Alter can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce alter?
Alter is pronounced /ˈɒl.tə/ (UK).
What is the past tense of alter?
The past tense of alter is altered.

Words near alter in the dictionary

  1. altenuene
  2. altepemeh
  3. altepetl
  4. altepetls
  5. alteplase
  6. alter
  7. alter ego
  8. alter egos
  9. alter idem
  10. alter kaker
  11. alter kakers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-alter.wav.

Cite this entry: “alter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.