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definitions

okay

[oh-key, oh-key, oh-key]
See more synonyms for okay on Thesaurus.com
adjective, adverb, interjection, noun, verb (used with object)
  1. OK.

OK

or O.K., 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 expletive): 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?

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

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for okayed

authorize, notarize, sanction, certify, OK, confirm, endorse, accept, pass, condone, approve, accredit, rubber-stamp

Examples from the Web for okayed

Historical Examples of okayed

  • He asked for an appointment with me; I okayed the request because of his reputation.

    Suite Mentale

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • The next woman wanted to cash a check and that had to be okayed by the manager.

    Jerry's Charge Account

    Hazel Hutchins Wilson

  • "We cannot come in until our cargo has been examined and okayed," the engineer said.

    The Brain

    Alexander Blade

  • Of course I okayed the orders cutting you down—a matter of routine—I had to follow through.

    Ten From Infinity

    Paul W. Fairman

British Dictionary definitions for okayed

OK

abbreviation for
  1. Oklahoma

okay

sentence substitute, adjective, verb, noun
  1. a variant of O.K.
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for okayed

OK

1839, only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings (e.g. K.G. for "no go," as if spelled "know go;" N.C. for "'nuff ced;" K.Y. for "know yuse"). In the case of O.K., the abbreviation is of "oll korrect."

Probably further popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Greek immigrants to America who returned home early 20c. having picked up U.S. speech mannerisms were known in Greece as okay-boys, among other things.

The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932.

okay

see OK.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper