Definition of alternative noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary alternative noun /ɔlˈtərnət̮ɪv/ a thing that you can choose to do or have out of two or more possibilities You can be paid in cash weekly or by check monthly; those are the two alternatives.

alternative noun [ C ] us / ɑːlˈtɝː.nə.t̬ɪv / uk / ɒlˈtɜː.nə.tɪv / B2 something that is different from something else, especially from what is usual, and offering the possibility of choice: an alternative to an alternative to coffee There has to be an alternative to people sleeping on the streets. no alternative You've given me no alternative.

Noun [ edit] alternative (plural alternatives) A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities. [from 17th c.] One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen. [from 17th c.]

As a noun, "alternative" refers to one of two or more possibilities or something that remains to be chosen. As an adjective, "alternative" means offering a choice (between or among two or more possibilities) or something different from the usual or conventional.

If the word ‘alternate’ is used as a noun, it means substitute of something/someone. For example, ‘We had an alternate teacher teaching us Mathematics on Mondays’, but the term ‘alternative’ indicates the presence of more than one choice/possibility.