alternately

adverb

al·​ter·​nate·​ly

US and Canadian

ˈȯl-tər-nət-lē 

 also  ˈal-;

 chiefly British  ȯl-ˈtər-

1

: by turns one after the other

His heart rate was 175, his blood pressure alternately spiking and falling.

—Stephen King

As the gravitational waves passed Earth, they would alternately compress and expand the space between two objects.

—Neil deGrasse Tyson et al.

The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train … or looking out the windows.

—Rick Riordan

2

: as an alternative

—used to introduce a different possibility from what has been previously suggested or described

From then on, you can take out almost $10,000 a year and annuitize $160,000 after at least ten years. Alternately, you can make no withdrawals and let your guaranteed base grow by 6 percent a year.

—Kerry Pechter

The club was originally known as Fontana Bar (or, alternately, Fontana Lounge and Fontana Room) from Bellagio's opening until it shifted to Hyde in December 2011.

—John Katsilometes

You could be in for a pretty remarkable experience—or, alternately, one of the most miserable and terrifying nights of your life.

—Drew Schwartz

Examples of alternately in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The film’s tone is alternately bracing — the camera is unflinching when Georgi (Stoyo Mirkov), a tyrant who briefly hires Khalid to do odd jobs, beats him with a shoe after accusing him of trying to sleep with his wife — and jubilant. —Jen Chaney, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024

The natural beauty of the seaside town is alternately soothing and hostile, skillfully utilized to both let the viewer’s guard down and ramp up the tension depending on the demands of any individual scene. —Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2024

Oliver is an addict, alternately abusing alcohol, MDMA, cocaine and prescription pills. —August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024

In a two-hour-long conversation with Daily Mail online reporter Charlie Spiering, conservative talking head Tucker Carlson spent an entire segment alternately questioning Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz’s sexuality and asserting that Walz is gay. —Quispe López, Them, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1