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alter

verb

Simple meaning

Cause to change.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awlter

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔltɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. ambitransitive

    Cause to change; make different; cause a transformation

    “The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city.”

  2. ambitransitive

    To change the form or structure of.

  3. Become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence

  4. transitive

    To tailor clothes to make them fit.

  5. transitive

    To affect mentally, as by psychotropic drugs or illness.

  6. transitive

    To castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Cause to change; make different; cause a transformation

Used this way, alter is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use alter

  • “The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city.”verb
  • “This dress needs to be altered.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

alter egosignificantly alteralter tableradically alter

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • alteredadjectiveInflected form

    Changed in form or character without becoming something else.

  • alteringnounInflected form

    The sterilization of an animal.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • alterationnounDerived noun

    An event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • alter egonounCompound term

    A very close and trusted friend who seems almost a part of yourself.

  • consciousness-altering drugnounCompound term

    A drug that can produce mood changes and distorted perceptions.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.