View synonyms for

either-or

[ ee-ther-awr, ahy-ther- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

allowing no equivocation; being limited in choice to two options:
It's an either-or situation—you pay the bill or you lose the company's services.

either-or

adjective

presenting an unavoidable need to choose between two alternatives
an either-or situation

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Word History and Origins

Origin of either-or¹

First recorded in 1925–30

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

I think, culturally, we have this knee-jerk habit where everything is either-or.

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I'm not one of those either-or people, but I can make a stronger case that we have our own homegrown traditions of reaction and authoritarianism that we need to take seriously.

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“It shouldn't be an either-or. We should be able to use both.”

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As always, news outlets oversimplify issues into a polarized either-or option when the truth is much more nuanced.

From

We often think of ourselves in an “either-or fashion,” Dr. Keltner said.

From

either Eivissa

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