altered

adjective

al·​tered ˈȯl-tərd 

1

: made different in some way

… she addressed me again, speaking in very altered tones; so altered, that I hardly recognised them as hers.

—Wilkie Collins

… no great change had taken place inside him, but his exterior was visibly altered.

—Booth Tarkington

2

: castrated sense 1a

I've noticed that my altered cats and my older cats have more dandruff than the unaltered and younger ones.

—Susie Page

Examples of altered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The original meme shows an altered version of Lovato’s face with what appears to be a strange buzzcut-combover hairdo. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025

The technology used included altered shuffling machines that could read the decks, X-ray machines that could read cards through the table when placed face down, and glasses with hidden cameras. —Colin Meyn, The Hill, 24 Oct. 2025

This evolution can be a source of frustration, even confusion, when the meaning of words is lost, altered or inverted. —Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025

These dolphins exhibited 536 altered genes, indicating disrupted GABAergic synapses, changes in the basement membrane, and increased Alzheimer's risk factors, which worsen with each bloom season. —Pranjal Malewar, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of alter

First Known Use

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for altered

• unaltered
• faltered