Sample Sentences for
alternative
grouped by contextual meaning
(editor-reviewed)

alternative as in:  an alternative plan

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Let's think of at least three alternatives before we decide what to do.
alternatives = possibilities
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  • •
    Can anyone think of a better alternative?
    alternative = something available as another possibility
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    Alternatively, we could pack for a picnic and eat in the park.
    alternatively = as another possibility
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    It felt like such a stupid thing to say, so obvious, but there seemed little alternative.  (source)
    alternative = other possibility
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    We have to joke about it because the alternative is to be scared out of your wits.  (source)
    alternative = other possibility
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    Actually, we had told her from the start that we were willing to give her other options if she was going to refuse to live with us, and we offered her several alternatives.  (source)
    alternatives = other possibilities
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    The accepted opinion was that Saddam had a mobile spinning program which could not easily be found, and in fact could be either lost and buried in the desert or alternatively driven across the border into Syria or even Jordan.  (source)
    alternatively = as another possibility
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    "What alternative have we?" the chief went on in a whisper.  (source)
    alternative = other possibility
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    Mother's reasons for saving me were as complicated as fate itself, I suppose. Among other things, her alternatives were limited.  (source)
    alternatives = other possibilities
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    Alternatively, you should have left Useless the Elder and his younger brother at home!†  (source)
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    The beast turned toward Calvin and Mr. Murry. "This child is in danger. You must trust us." "We have no alternative," Mr. Murry said. "Can you save her?"  (source)
    alternative = other possibility
  • •
    Phrase alternatives as questions: Instead of "I think we should do A, not B," try "What if we did A, instead of B?"  (source)
    alternatives = other possibilities
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    Or alternatively the knifing of a native foreman by a migrant or a fight among rival groups of migrants.†  (source)
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    A third alternative was for Roy to try apologizing to Dana again, this time oozing remorse and sincerity.  (source)
    alternative = possible thing to do
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alternative as in:  alternative medicine

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I'm taking the pills the doctor prescribed, but I'm also looking into alternative medicine such as acupuncture.
alternative = non-standard
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    The Amish lead an alternative lifestyle that limits the use of technology.
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    What was that about alternative communication?  (source)
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    "That is your earpiece. I will give you exactly one more chance to wear it. If you remove it from your ear again, I'll have you fitted with this." He holds up some sort of metal headgear that I instantly name the head shackle. "It's an alternative audio unit that locks around your skull and under your chin until it's opened with a key."  (source)
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  • •
    Unless this is one of your alternative-style statements.  (source)
    alternative = non-traditional or non-standard
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    Then, she took me down to the import section and told me about "real" alternative music.  (source)
    alternative = non-traditional
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    I often had this feeling when I worked on Walter's case, that if the anguish of all the stressed lives, the pain of all of the oppressed people in all of the menaced spaces of Monroe County could be gathered in some carefully constructed receptacle, it could power something extraordinary, operate as some astonishing alternative fuel capable of igniting previously impossible action.  (source)
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    There were these Goth types, and a lot of kids who dressed like punk rockers, you know, alternative types with weird hair.  (source)
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    I spent long days under an Interstate overpass with homeless men and women who had created an alternative culture, with laws and punishments.  (source)
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    The R.O.F.L. Co-op—an employee-run cooperative promoting healthy alternative lifestyles and organic foods.  (source)
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    The alternative presses of the 1960s were created to contest the status quo.  (source)
    alternative = non-traditional or non-standard
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    He hopes his flight, like that of the character in the title, toward asylum (Canada, or freedom, or the company of the welcoming dead), or home, is interpreted as a radical gesture demanding change, an alternative way, a cessation of things as they are.  (source)
    alternative = non-standard or non-traditional
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    Unlike me, she cared about the myriad pop musical distinctions: punk, indie, alternative, hard-core, emo-core.  (source)
    alternative = non-standard
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    The Fountain School was an "alternative learning space," also known as the Hippie School.  (source)
    alternative = non-traditional or non-standard
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