OK

¹

or o·kay

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

adjective

1. all right; proceeding normally; satisfactory or under control:

   Things are OK at the moment.

2. correct, permissible, or acceptable; meeting standards:

   Is this suit OK to wear to a formal party?

3. doing well or in good health; managing adequately:

   She's been OK since the operation.

4. adequate but unexceptional or unremarkable; tolerable:

   The job they did was OK, nothing more.

5. estimable, dependable, or trustworthy; likable:

   an OK person.

adverb

1. all right; well enough; successfully; fine:

   She'll manage OK on her own.

   He sings OK, but he can't tap dance.

2. (used as an affirmative response) yes; surely.
3. (used as an interrogative or interrogative tag) all right?; do you agree?

interjection

1. (used to express agreement, understanding, acceptance, or the like):

   OK, I'll get it for you.

2. (used as an introductory or transitional expression):

   OK, now where were we?

noun

, plural OK's.

1. an approval, agreement, or endorsement:

   They gave their OK to her leave of absence.

verb (used with object)

, OK'd, OK'ing.

1. 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?

OK

²

abbreviation for

1. Oklahoma (approved especially for use with zip code).

OK

¹

abbreviation for

1. Oklahoma

O.K.

²

/ ˌəʊˈkeɪ /

sentence substitute

1. an expression of approval, agreement, etc

adjective

1. in good or satisfactory condition
2. permissable

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

3. acceptable but not outstanding

   the party was O.K.

verb

1. tr to approve or endorse

noun

1. approval or agreement

Word History and Origins

Origin of OK¹

Initials of a facetious folk phonetic spelling, i.e., 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of OK¹

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

Example Sentences

Unless there is a court decision that changes our law, we are OK.

From The Daily Beast

Because they stopped and I thought, “OK, that makes sense,” and then all of a sudden I saw another issue!

From The Daily Beast

One of the most famous directors of this era was Shin Sang-ok (신상옥).

From The Daily Beast

Like, OK, to be around them when we were away from work is great, but being at work was still kind of strange for me.

From The Daily Beast

And… and… OK, he was the governor of a huge and electorally important state.

From The Daily Beast

I'm going to be one of those people who acts like it's all OK, like it'll all go back to normal some day.

From Project Gutenberg

Her desk was worse than the floor, piled high with books and comics, so we ended up sitting on her bed, which was OK by me.

From Project Gutenberg

I was still moving, reaching for her other hand, for her now-unlocked phone with her thumb still poised over the OK key.

From Project Gutenberg

They sprinkle rat poison over everything at closing-time, but if you get there quick, you're OK.

From Project Gutenberg

Paroccipital, par-ok-sip′i-tal, adj. situated near the occiput.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fine
• okay

Is OK A Word?

And is OK in the dictionary?

OK is a word. The term OK may also be spelled okay. There is confusion as to whether OK is a word because it is informal, looks like an acronym, and is spelled with all capital letters. However, none of these elements disqualify OK from being a valid word.