OK

or O.K., o·kay

[ oh-key, oh-key, oh-key ]

/ ˈoʊˈkeɪ, ˌoʊˈkeɪ, ˈoʊˌkeɪ /

adjective

all right; proceeding normally; satisfactory or under control: Things are OK at the moment.

correct, permissible, or acceptable; meeting standards: Is this suit OK to wear to a formal party?

doing well or in good health; managing adequately: She's been OK since the operation.

adequate but unexceptional or unremarkable; tolerable: The job they did was OK, nothing more.

estimable, dependable, or trustworthy; likable: an OK person.

adverb

all right; well enough; successfully; fine: She'll manage OK on her own. He sings OK, but he can't tap dance.

(used as an affirmative response) yes; surely.

(used as an interrogative or interrogative tag) all right?; do you agree?

interjection

(used to express agreement, understanding, acceptance, or the like): OK, I'll get it for you.

(used as an introductory or transitional expletive): OK, now where were we?

noun, plural OK's.

an approval, agreement, or endorsement: They gave their OK to her leave of absence.

verb (used with object), OK'd, OK'ing.

to put one's endorsement on or indicate one's approval of (a request, piece of copy, bank check, etc.); authorize; initial: Would you OK my application?

Origin of OK

initials of a facetious folk phonetic spelling, e.g., oll or orl korrect representing all correct, first attested in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1839, then used in 1840 by Democrat partisans of Martin Van Buren during his election campaign, who allegedly named their organization, the O.K. Club, in allusion to the initials of Old Kinderhook, Van Buren's nickname, derived from his birthplace Kinderhook, New York

usage note for OK

Few Americanisms have been more successful than ok, which survived the political campaign of 1840 that fostered it, quickly lost its political significance, and went on to develop use as a verb, adverb, noun, and interjection. The expression was well known in England by the 1880s. Today ok has achieved worldwide recognition and use. It occurs in all but the most formal speech and writing.

British Dictionary definitions for o.k. (1 of 2)

O.K.

/ (ˌəʊˈkeɪ) informal /

sentence substitute

an expression of approval, agreement, etc

adjective, adverb (usually postpositive)

in good or satisfactory condition

permissable is it O.K. if I go home now?

acceptable but not outstanding the party was O.K.

verb O.K.s, O.K.ing (ˌəʊˈkeɪɪŋ) or O.K.ed (ˌəʊˈkeɪd)

(tr) to approve or endorse

noun plural O.K.s

approval or agreement

Also: OK, o.k., okay

Word Origin for O.K.

C19: perhaps from o ( ll) k ( orrect), jocular alteration of all correct

British Dictionary definitions for o.k. (2 of 2)

abbreviation for

Oklahoma

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

OK