altogether

altogether
all together, altogether
These are often confused, because their meanings encroach on one another. All together means ‘everyone together’, and the word all is usually removable without damaging the syntax or affecting the meaning: e.g.

• One victim and five suspects, all together in a sealed room —A. Morice, 1971.

Altogether is adverbial and means ‘entirely; in every way’: e.g.

• The idea of counselling in schools is not altogether new —Times, 1970

• Martinez was not altogether unknown. But the antagonism of people in Chicago is insignificant. He has another ball game in mind altogether —Saul Bellow, 1982

• Like Ruskin, he can at times write sentences which I would call ‘woozy’; that is to say, too dependent upon some private symbolism of his own to be altogether comprehensible to others. —W. H. Auden, 1970.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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  • altogether — ► ADVERB 1) completely. 2) in total. 3) on the whole. ● in the altogether Cf. ↑in the altogether USAGE Note that altogether and …   English terms dictionary

  • altogether — [ôl΄to͞o geth′ər, ôl′to͞o geth΄ər; ôl΄təgeth′ər, ôl′təgeth΄ər] adv. [ME altogedere: see ALL & TOGETHER] 1. wholly; completely [not altogether wrong] 2. in all; all being counted [he wrote six books altogether] 3. everything being considered; on… …   English World dictionary

  • Altogether — Al to*geth er, adv. [OE. altogedere; al all + togedere together. See {Together}.] 1. All together; conjointly. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Altogether they went at once. Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 2. Without exception; wholly; completely. [1913 Webster]… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • altogether — n. 1. nakedness; used mostly in the phrase in the altogether . [informal] Syn: raw, buff, birthday suit [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • altogether — early 13c., altogedere, a strengthened form of ALL (Cf. all) (also see TOGETHER (Cf. together)); used in the sense of a whole from 1660s. The altogether nude is from 1894 …   Etymology dictionary

  • altogether — [adv1] as a whole all, all in all, all things considered, all told, bodily, by and large, collectively, conjointly, en masse, everything considered, everything included, for the most part, generally, in all, in sum, in toto, on the whole, taken… …   New thesaurus

  • altogether — index in toto, outright, radical (extreme), wholly Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • altogether — [[t]ɔ͟ːltəge̱ðə(r)[/t]] ♦♦♦ 1) ADV: ADV after v (emphasis) You use altogether to emphasize that something has stopped, been done, or finished completely. When Artie stopped calling altogether, Julie found a new man... His tour may have to be… …   English dictionary

  • altogether — al|to|geth|er1 W3S2 [ˌo:ltəˈgeðə US ˌo:ltəˈgeðər] adv [Date: 1100 1200; Origin: all everything, everyone + together] 1.) used to emphasize that something has been done completely or has finished completely ▪ an old custom that has vanished… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • altogether — al|to|geth|er1 [ ,ɔltə geðər ] adverb *** 1. ) used for emphasizing that something has stopped or ended completely: Many commuters have stopped using their cars altogether. These rare animals may soon disappear altogether. a ) used for… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • altogether — I UK [ˌɔːltəˈɡeðə(r)] / US [ˌɔltəˈɡeðər] adverb *** Usage note: Do not confuse altogether with all together, which means everyone or everything together : Write down the numbers and add them all together. 1) completely a) used for emphasizing… …   English dictionary

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