or else

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Conjunction

or else

Otherwise or as an alternative.
Go now, or else you'll have to stay all night.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
  If you wil willingly remaine with me,
  You ſhall haue honors, as your merits be:
  Or els you ſhal be forc’d with ſlauerie.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:
  He shall do this, or else I do recant / The pardon that I late pronounced here.

Phrase

or else

(idiomatic) No matter what (implies an unspecified threat).
Clean up your room, or else!
- 2022 June 1, Ryan Mac, “Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:
  Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else [title]

Translations

as an alternative

Arabic: بِطَرِيقَة أُخْرَى‎ (bi-ṭarīqa ʾuḵrā), وَإِلَّا‎ (wa-ʾillā)
Armenian: այլապես (hy) (aylapes), թե չէ (hy) (tʿe čʿē)
Azerbaijani: əks təqdirdə, yoxsa (az), ya da (az)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 要不然 (zh) (yàobùrán), 要不 (zh) (yàobù), 不然 (zh) (bùrán), 否則／否则 (zh) (fǒuzé)
Estonian: või muidu (et), vastasel juhul
Finnish: tai muuten
French: sinon (fr)
Georgian: თუარადა (tuarada), თორემ (torem)
German: sonst (de), anders (de), andernfalls (de)
Greek: ειδάλλως (el) (eidállos)
Ancient: εἰ δὲ μή γε (ei dè mḗ ge)
Hebrew: אוֹ שֶׁ‎ (o she)
Hindi: वरना (hi) (varnā)
Hungarian: vagy pedig, máskülönben (hu), különben (hu), ellenkező esetben
Icelandic: annars (is), ella (is)
Japanese: そうでなければ (sō de wa nakereba), 或いは (ja) (あるいは, arui wa), もしくは (ja) (moshiku wa), さもないと (samonai to)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دەنا‎ (ku) (dena)
Lithuanian: arba (lt), nes kitaip
Norwegian: ellers (no), hvis ikke
Persian: وگرنه‎ (fa) (vagarna)
Polish: bo inaczej, bo (pl), inaczej (pl)
Portuguese: senão (pt), caso contrário
Romanian: sau altfel
Russian: ина́че (ru) (ináče), и́наче (ru) (ínače), а то (ru) (a to), а не то́ (ru) (a ne tó) (also a threat), в проти́вном слу́чае (v protívnom slúčaje)
Swedish: annars (sv), annars så
Urdu: ورنہ‎ (ur) (varnā), وگرنہ‎ (vagarnā)

no matter what

Dutch: of anders
Hungarian: mert ha nem(, akkor baj lesz), (mert) különben (megnézheted magad) (and other combinations of the two phrases)
Indonesian: kalau tidak
Polish: bo inaczej
Portuguese: senão (pt)
Spanish: o verás
Swedish: annars (sv)
Urdu: ورنہ‎ (ur) (varnā), وگرنہ‎ (vagarnā)

Anagrams

Loeser, Lorees, resole, solere