else
Americanadjective
-
other than the persons or things mentioned or implied.
What else could I have done?
-
in addition to the persons or things mentioned or implied.
Who else was there?
-
other or in addition (used in the possessive following an indefinite pronoun).
someone else's money.
adverb
-
if not (usually preceded byor ).
It's a macaw, or else I don't know birds.
-
in some other way; otherwise.
How else could I have acted?
-
at some other place or time.
Where else might I find this book?
idioms
determiner
-
in addition; more
there is nobody else here
-
other; different
where else could he be?
adverb
Grammar
The possessive forms of somebody else, everybody else, etc., are somebody else's, everybody else's, the forms somebody's else, everybody's else being considered nonstandard in present-day English. One exception is the possessive for who else, which is occasionally formed as whose else when a noun does not immediately follow: Is this book yours? Whose else could it be? No, it's somebody else's.
Etymology
Origin of else
before 1000; Middle English, Old English elles (cognate with Old High German elles ), equivalent to ell- other (cognate with Gothic aljis, Latin alius, Old Irish aile Greek állos, Armenian ayl other; cf. eldritch) + -es -s 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Following the diplomatic back-and-forth about a potentially existential subject could tire anyone out, so spend the rest of your night doing something else!
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
This is where the chorus cries out that if we don’t do it, someone else will.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
And for all of its challenges, the U.S. government is still the most creditworthy borrower around—making its own borrowing costs a benchmark for what everybody else has to pay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
This is about me and Mariusz, not about anybody else.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
That was the day my puppy love, my silly crush for her, changed into something else.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.