Etymology From Middle English altogeder, altogedere, equivalent to al- (“all”) + together. Cognate with Scots awthegither (“altogether”), Middle High German alzegater (“altogether”), Dutch altegaar. Compare also Old English ealġeador, eallġeador (“altogether”), West Frisian allegearre (“altogether”). More at together. The noun sense (nakedness): was popularized in George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby.
1
Completely, wholly, or without exception.
Police did not seem altogether satisfied with my alibi.
Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me.1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:
2 more examples
One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
And wordy attacks against slavery drew sneers from observers which were not altogether undeserved. The authors were compared to doctors who offered to a patient nothing more than invectives against the disease which consumed him.1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 24:
2
On the whole; with everything considered.
Altogether, I'm sorry it happened.
A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After FIFA’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England 5, Iceland 0: under 21 match report”, in The Telegraph:
Etymology From Middle English altogeder, altogedere, equivalent to al- (“all”) + together. Cognate with Scots awthegither (“altogether”), Middle High German alzegater (“altogether”), Dutch altegaar. Compare also Old English ealġeador, eallġeador (“altogether”), West Frisian allegearre (“altogether”). More at together. The noun sense (nakedness): was popularized in George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby.
And she objects, too, to the "altogether." Her gowns will never be cut more décolleté than those seen in the boxes of the Metropolitan Opera House of New York city.1896, The Quartier Latin, volume 1, number 1:
Hearing that his wife was posing in the altogether for the great Spanish satirist, the Duke of Alba swore that he would paint Goya's picture in Goya's blood.1930 August 4, “Prix de Rome”, in Time:
1 more example
Last week, a Cleveland news anchor, Sharon Reed, was caught on camera stripping nude and joining a gaggle of other people in the altogether.2004 November 25, David Carr, “When a TV Talking Head Becomes a Talking Body”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 Sep 2008: