alt
Alt is short for “alternative.” It describes people, fashion and music outside the mainstream, drawing on goth, punk, emo, grunge and skate culture. An alt girl, alt boy or alt kid is someone who dresses and lives that way. Online, “alt” can also mean a second account.
Alt as a style
Alternative fashion is a broad umbrella. Wikipedia defines it as styles that stand apart from mainstream fashion, including goth, punk, emo and grunge. The modern version that took over TikTok around 2020 mixes them: Dr. Martens, chains, piercings, split-dyed hair, thrifted band tees and heavy eyeliner.
On TikTok, “Alt TikTok” became its own corner of the app, defined against what users called “Straight TikTok,” the mainstream dance-and-lip-sync side. Rolling Stone described Alt TikTok in 2020 as one of the app’s main countercultures.
Alt as an account
An alt account, or just an alt, is a secondary account someone uses alongside their main one: for a hobby, for close friends, for lurking, or to post without their real name attached. A private Instagram for close friends is often called a finsta. An alt isn’t automatically a sock puppet. That term is for accounts made to deceive people.
Examples
- “She went from preppy to full alt in one summer.”
- “The alt kids always sat on the steps by the art room.”
- “That’s my alt. My main is for family.”
Where it came from
Merriam-Webster traces the “alt-” prefix to early internet newsgroups called alt.*, set up in 1987, and to “alt rock,” in use by 1982. “Alternative” had long been the label for music and scenes outside the mainstream, and “alt” became the quick, everyday version.
Don’t confuse it with
Alt-right, a political term for a far-right movement, uses the same prefix but has nothing to do with alternative fashion or music.
Related terms
- alt girl: a girl into alternative fashion
- e-girl: internet-era alt style
- mall goth: Hot Topic–era goth
- pastel goth: goth softened with pastels
- finsta: a private, second Instagram account
See more terms like this in our internet aesthetics guide.
Example sentence
He’s into punk and skate culture, very alt.
Similar words
alternative, nonconformist
Notes
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