Different vs Alternative - What's the difference?
different | alternative | Related terms |
Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
*
* 1971 , William S. Burroughs, , page 6
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=
, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Various, assorted, diverse.
* 2006 , Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context , Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521863575, page 19:
Distinct, separate; (used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity).
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= Unlike most others; unusual.
Relating to a choice between two or more possibilities
Not traditional, outside the mainstream, underground (e.g., alternative medicine, alternative lifestyle, (alternative rock)).
Other.
alternate; reciprocal
A situation which allows a mutually exclusive choice between two or more possibilities; a choice between two or more possibilities.
* 1817 , (Walter Scott), Rob Roy , XI:
One of several mutually exclusive things which can be chosen.
The remaining option; something available after other possibilities have been exhausted.
Different is a related term of alternative.
As a verb different
is .As a noun alternative is
alternative.different
English
(wikipedia different)Adjective
(en adjective)- Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.
Ian Sample
Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
- In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.
Charles T. Ambrose
Alzheimer’s Disease, volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
Usage notes
* (not the same) Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective may be construed with one of the prepositions (from), (to), and (than), or with the subordinating conjunction (than).- Pleasure is different from'''/'''than'''/'''to''' happiness.''
- ''It's different '''than''' ''(or '''''from what'' )'' I expected.
Synonyms
* distinctAntonyms
* alike * identical * same * similar * undifferentDerived terms
* different as chalk and cheese * different drummer * different ideal * different light * different strokes * horse of a different color * march to the beat of a different drumExternal links
* *alternative
English
(wikipedia alternative)Adjective
(-)- an alternative proposition
- (Holland)
Derived terms
* alternative dispute resolution * alternative energy * alternative lifestyle * alternative medicine * alternative press * alternative voteNoun
(en noun)- ‘The cloister or a betrothed husband?’ I echoed—‘Is that the alternative destined for Miss Vernon?’