altogether
adverb
- completely
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L316204 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɔːl.tʊˈɡɛð.ə(ɹ)/ / /ɔː.tuːˈɡɛð.ə(ɹ)/ / /ɔːl.təˈɡɛð.ə/
adv
Etymology: From Middle English altogeder, altogedere, equivalent to al- (“all”) + together. Cognate with Scots awthegither (“altogether”), Middle High German alzegater (“altogether”), Dutch altegaar. Compare also Old English ealġeador, eallġeador (“altogether”), West Frisian allegearre (“altogether”). More at together. The noun sense (nakedness): was popularized in George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby.
- Completely, wholly, or without exception.
“Police did not seem altogether satisfied with my alibi.”
“Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me.”
- On the whole; with everything considered.
“Altogether, I'm sorry it happened.”
“A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After FIFA’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.”
- With everything included.
“Altogether, your bill comes to $6.99.”
- An intensifier: without doubt, clearly.
“It was a great game altogether.”
“That took altogether too much time.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English altogeder, altogedere, equivalent to al- (“all”) + together. Cognate with Scots awthegither (“altogether”), Middle High German alzegater (“altogether”), Dutch altegaar. Compare also Old English ealġeador, eallġeador (“altogether”), West Frisian allegearre (“altogether”). More at together. The noun sense (nakedness): was popularized in George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby.
- A state of nakedness.
“And she objects, too, to the "altogether." Her gowns will never be cut more décolleté than those seen in the boxes of the Metropolitan Opera House of New York city.”
“Hearing that his wife was posing in the altogether for the great Spanish satirist, the Duke of Alba swore that he would paint Goya's picture in Goya's blood.”