Word.ws English Dictionary

or else

or else conjunction: otherwise or as an alternative.

Conjunction

or else

  1. Otherwise or as an alternative.
    • Go now, or else you'll have to stay all night.
    • If you wil willingly remaine with me,
      You ſhall haue honors, as your merits be:
      Or els you ſhal be forc’d with ſlauerie.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...

Phrase

or else

  1. (idiomatic) Implies an unspecified threat if a preceding command is not fulfilled.
    • Clean up your room, or else!
    • "You’d better not" "Or else?"

or else meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

or else in Hindi

as an alternative
वरना varnā

or else in Tamil

இல்லையெனில், இல்லாவிடில்

or else in Marathi

as an alternative
नाहीतर nāhītar, अन्यथा anyathā

or else in Urdu

as an alternative
ورنہ varnā, وگرنہ vagarnā
implies an unspecified threat
ورنہ varnā, وگرنہ vagarnā
More languagesFewer languages
or else in Telugu
లేకుంటే lēkuṇṭē
or else in Nepali
अथवा athawā
or else in Arabic
بِطَرِيقَة أُخْرَى bi-ṭarīqa ʔuḵrā, وَإِلَّا wa-ʔillā
or else in Indonesian
kalau tidak
or else in Persian
وگرنه vagarna

Examples of or else in a sentence

  • He shall do this, or else I do recant / The pardon that I late pronounced here.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...
  • Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else [title]2022 June 1, Ryan Mac, “Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  • Farah Griffin’s success by offering some advice aimed squarely at me: “Be nice — or else.”2024 March 9, Jacob Bernstein, “A Former Trump Aide Becomes a Liberal Favorite”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Questions about or else

What does or else mean?
Or else means otherwise or as an alternative.
What is or else in Hindi?
Or else in Hindi is वरना (varnā). See Or else meaning in Hindi.
How do you use or else in a sentence?
He shall do this, or else I do recant / The pardon that I late pronounced here.
What part of speech is or else?
Or else can be a conjunction or a phrase.

Words near or else in the dictionary

  1. Oquendos
  2. Oquirrh
  3. or
  4. or anything
  5. or bust
  6. or else
  7. OR gate
  8. OR gates
  9. or hor
  10. or it didn't happen
  11. or not

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: or else (page history and authors); or else (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); లేకుంటే (Telugu) (page history and authors); अथवा (Nepali) (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: En-au-or else.ogg.

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