OK1
/əʊˈkeɪ
/(also okay) informal
exclamation
1Used to express agreement or acceptance: OK, I’ll pass on your message OK, OK, I give in...
- The city hits you with permit fees - okay, fine.
- Hope to see you all - okay, not all, as there isn't a bar big enough to fit everyone, but lots of you - on the 9th.
- I hope my labours (and, okay, those of the musicians) are enjoyed by the ne'er-do-wells.
Synonyms
all right, right, right then, right you are, very well, yes, very good, fine, agreed
informal oke, okey-dokey, okey-doke, roger
British informal righto, righty-ho
Indian informal acha
1.1Used to introduce an utterance: ‘OK, let’s go’...
- I thought: okay, this is the one I'll call on first.
- Stefan came into the office, ‘Okay, and now I need everyone's opinions so I can do some work.’
- Okay I think that your phone is broken.
1.2Used at the end of a statement to invite agreement, approval, or confirmation: humour me, OK?...
- So, just accept this pointless, but important Internet ranking, OK?
- Be nice to him OK, Simon?
- Now to give you an idea, the average now is under one, okay?
adjective
1Satisfactory but not especially good: the flight was OK...
- In fairness, Casey probably did an okay job of the song, but I'd fallen asleep ten seconds into it.
- He was doing an okay job, until he missed one swing.
- Even though the job scenario has been okay, you just know something was bound to go wrong somewhere.
Synonyms
satisfactory, all right, fine, in order, acceptable, up to scratch, up to the mark, up to standard, up to par, competent;
adequate, tolerable, passable, reasonable, quite good, fair, decent, not bad, average, middling, moderate, unremarkable, unexceptional
informal hunky-dory, so-so, fair-to-middling, (plain) vanilla
British informal, dated tickety-boo
North American & Australian/New Zealand informal jake
1.1In a satisfactory physical or mental state: are you okay, Ben?...
- But only to reassure you that she is physically okay.
- She seemed to be okay physically as far as I could tell, but she frowned when she saw me - something was up, obviously.
- For me, it's a physical need to see to it that you're okay.
Synonyms
fine, all right, well, in good shape, in good health, fit, healthy, as fit as a fiddle, as fit as a flea, in fine fettle, up to snuff
informal in the pink
British informal as right as a trivet
1.2Permissible; allowable: it’s not OK to say that to a teacher...
- I have a strong preference to avoid checking any luggage, so carry-on appropriate items are okay; things that have to be checked, not so good.
- ‘I said any date would be okay when his schedule permits,’ Koizumi told reporters after the meeting with Primakov.
- Most even find that it's okay to go further than that, with permission from everyone concerned of course.
Synonyms
permissible, allowable, acceptable, all right, in order, permitted, fine, fitting, suitable, appropriate
adverb
In a satisfactory manner or to a satisfactory extent: the computer continues to work OK...
- We've done okay this season and have tried to cover up our weaknesses as much as we can.
- By and large it seems to be going okay and according to the returning officer we are on course and all the papers are due to go out this week.
- Just because we did okay last year doesn't mean we cannot fail this time round.
Synonyms
all right, fine, well, well enough, satisfactorily, passably, tolerably, acceptably
noun [in singular]
An authorization or approval: the officer gave me the OK...
- A misconception is that if they give the okay for organ and tissue retrieval, they won't be able to have an open casket or a funeral at all.
- They don't need an okay from the Ministry to proceed with any project.
- The family made an application for a grant and, on April 16, 2002, they were given the okay for the work.
Synonyms
authorization, approval, seal of approval, agreement, consent, assent, permission, endorsement, ratification, sanction, approbation, acquiescence, confirmation, blessing, leave, imprimatur
informal the go-ahead, the green light, the thumbs up, say-so
verb (OK's, OK'ing, OK'd) [with object]
Give approval to: despite objections, the committee ok’d the construction...
- If the Senate approves the exact legislation okayed by the House - down to every single word and comma - the legislation would then be sent to the President.
- Technically this bill required no Presidential approval, and it was okayed by the Governor.
- The plan, which recently resurfaced after being dropped, still has to be okayed by county traffic chiefs.
Synonyms
authorize, approve, agree to, consent to, sanction, pass, ratify, endorse, allow, give something one's consent, say yes to, accede to, give something one's approval, give something the nod, rubber-stamp
informal give something the go-ahead, give something the green light, give something the thumbs up, give something one's say-so
Origin
Mid 19th century (originally US): probably an abbreviation of orl korrect, humorous form of all correct, popularized as a slogan during President Van Buren's re-election campaign of 1840 in the US; his nickname Old Kinderhook (derived from his birthplace) provided the initials.
The word OK came from the USA, and is probably an abbreviation of orl korrect, a jokey spelling of ‘all correct’, that was used as a slogan during the presidential re-election campaign of Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) in 1840. It was reinforced by the initials of his nickname Old Kinderhook, derived from his birthplace.
OK2
abbreviation
Oklahoma (in official postal use).