alternatives

Noun

alternative (plural alternatives)

1. A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities.
   • I gave you the alternative; you decided to stay.
2. One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen.
   • Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The Constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it.1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison
3. The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted.
4. (uncountable) alternative rock
5. A non-offensive word or phrase that serves as a replacement for a word deemed offensive or unacceptable, though not as a euphemism.
   • Disability activists discourage the use of the words "crazy" and "insane" due to their negative connections to mental health, suggesting alternatives such as "wild", "silly", or "out of this world", which do not relate to mental health.

See all 10 meanings of alternative