How do you use the word "alternative" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "alternative" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "alternative": Is there no alternative to what you propose? We are faced with the alternative of resistance or slavery.

Alternative Meaning

/ɒlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

adjRelating to a choice between two or more possibilities.

adjRelating to a choice between two or more possibilities., Presenting two or more alternatives.

Sentence Examples

Is there no alternative to what you propose?

We are faced with the alternative of resistance or slavery.

The road was closed so we had to find an alternative route.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

choice option secondary

Antonyms:

primary

CEFR Practice Quiz

With the highway closed, we had no ____ but to take the long way.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

If the flight is cancelled, we will have to find an ____ way home.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos Proto-Italic *aljos Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *aliteros Latin alter Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Latin -nus Latin alternus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin alternō Latin alternātus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Latin alternātīvusder. Middle French alternatifbor. English alternative From Middle French alternatif, from Medieval Latin alternātīvus (“alternating”), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (“interchange, alternate”). By surface analysis, alternate + -ive. Compare alternate.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"Reason would seem to dictate that it was an alternative offer,—either to receive $15,000 if the grantor perform the condition or $12,000 if he did not perform the condition." — 1911, “Phillips v. Rohrer”, in Penn State Law Review, volume 16, →OCLC, page 46:

"Who is right, Augusto or Unamuno? In general critics have seen this confrontation as offering an alternative choice: either we are free or we are predetermined." — 2014, C.A. Longhurst, Unamuno's Theory of the Novel, Routledge, →ISBN, page 162:

"Exploring alternative realities isn't just a game for boys. In 1666, Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, published a utopian fantasy of compelling strangeness." — 2011 May 11, Sam Leith, “Sam Leith's top 10 alternative realities”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2021:

"He [the Sun] it is that giveth light to all things, and riddeth them from darkneſſe : hee hideth the other ſtarres, and ſheweth them againe : he ordereth the ſeaſons in their alternative courſe : he tempereth the yeere, ariſing ever freſh and new againe, for the benefite and good of the world." — 1601, Pliny the Elder, “Of the seuen Planets”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The History of the World Commonly Called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus, translation of Naturalis Historia (in Classical Latin), page 3:

"“The cloister or a betrothed husband?” I echoed—“Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?”" — 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [XI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 268:

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