approval

American  

[uh-proo-vuhl] / əˈpru vəl /

noun

1. the act of approving; approbation.

2. formal permission or sanction.

3. Philately. one of a group of selected stamps sent by a dealer to a prospective customer for examination and either purchase or return.

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idioms

1. on approval, without obligation to buy unless satisfactory to the customer upon trial or examination and, otherwise, returnable.

   We ship merchandise on approval.

approval British  

/ əˈpruːvəl /

noun

1. the act of approving

2. formal agreement; sanction

3. a favourable opinion; commendation

4. (of articles for sale) for examination with an option to buy or return

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approval More Idioms  

1. see on approval; seal of approval.

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Other Word Forms

• nonapproval
  noun
• preapproval
  noun
• proapproval
  adjective
• reapproval
  noun
• self-approval
  noun

Etymology

Origin of approval

First recorded in 1680–90; approve + -al ²

Explanation

Approval is a formal agreement. It's probably not a good idea to mail the invitations for your beach party until you've gotten official approval for the enormous bonfire you're planning to light. Building designs, budgets, grant applications — these all require official approval before they can be put into effect. You can also use the word approval to talk about less formal permission, like a teacher's approval of your plan to buy pizza for the whole class. Approval also means the belief that something is good, like your approval of your neighbor's purple house. Until 1800, it was much more common for people to use the word approvance to mean the same thing.

Example Sentences

Despite conditional approval by the European Parliament, the deal must be negotiated with EU states before it can be implemented by the bloc.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

To wrap the Pont Neuf, he spent $2.5 million of his own money and some 10 years tussling with bureaucrats and politicians before securing the approval of President Francois Mitterrand.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Recent polling – including by state-run agencies - suggests his domestic approval rating is falling.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

Tesla also has limited approval for FSD in China.

From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026

When Farmer and his team intervened, proposing a very aggressive combination of MDR drugs—based largely on Farmer’s guesswork—they needed official approval from the Peruvian doctors before the drugs could be administered.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• blessing
• confirmation
• consent
• endorsement
• go ahead
• green light
• license
• mandate
• permission
• ratification
• recommendation
• sanction
• support