approval

American  

[uh-proo-vuhl] / əˈpru vəl /

noun

• approvals
  plural

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.

---

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

---

approval More Idioms  

1. see on approval; seal of approval.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• approvals
  plural

---

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

See Examples For:

approval approvals

Yet another hurdle the company faced was breaking into international markets as the car has not gained regulatory approval for sale in Australia, New Zealand or European Union countries.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026

The government had wanted to start construction on the arch immediately after the panel gave its approval.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

He wrote the song without her knowledge, phoning the singer afterwards to timidly seek her approval.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Newsom can commute about 40% of the death sentences with the stroke of a pen, but the rest will require the high court’s approval in order to be finalized.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

For the first time, the American public’s approval of Johnson’s handling of the war slipped below 50 percent.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Svanberg said that investors were “freaking out” because of the deal’s potential size and the challenges that come with the fact that any merger would be subject to Chinese and U.S. regulatory approvals.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

They said planning approval was secured in 2023 and a contractor appointed, but changes introduced by the Building Safety Act concerning higher-risk buildings meant further approvals were required.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

This month, executives told analysts that most of its exposure is for data centers being leased to hyperscalers and to data centers with committed power and regulatory approvals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Both approvals have arrived years after the original timetable, but set the stage for increased plane deliveries in the coming years.

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026

Lawrence pried the necessary salary and staff approvals from Sproul, and committed himself personally to finding money to build Seaborg’s hot lab and reactor.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---