VocabauraVOCABAURA

altered

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Having been changed from an original form.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awlterd

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔltɚd

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.

adjective

  1. Having been changed from an original form.

  2. of an animalusually a pet

    Neutered; having had testicles or uterus and ovaries removed to prevent procreation.

noun

  1. A kind of car in drag racing, usually with a partial body situated behind the exposed engine.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Having been changed from an original form.

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

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately 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 altered

  • “The altered policy promised success.”adjective

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “altered”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

slightly alteredaltered stateradically alteredsignificantly alteredaltered formaltered circumstances

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • alterverbBase word

    Cause to change.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • alterationnounDerived noun

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

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: having been changed from an original form

editedmodified

Antonyms

Sense: having been changed from an original form

unchangedunaltered

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “altered” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

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.