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• Oklahoma
  Oklahoma

  noun

  a state in the south central United States. 69,919 square miles (181,090 square kilometers). Oklahoma City. OK (for use with zip code), Okla.
• Oklahoma!
  Oklahoma!

  A musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It began a new era of sophistication in musical comedy and was the first of several very successful Rodgers and Hammerstein shows. “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” “Oklahoma,” and “People Will Say We're in Love” are songs from Oklahoma!

Oklahoma

American  

[oh-kluh-hoh-muh] / ˌoʊ kləˈhoʊ mə /

noun

1. a state in the south central United States. 69,919 square miles (181,090 square kilometers). Oklahoma City. OK (for use with zip code), Okla.

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Oklahoma British  

/ ˌəʊkləˈhəʊmə /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Okla..   OK.  a state in the S central US: consists of plains in the west, rising to mountains in the southwest and east; important for oil. Capital: Oklahoma City. Pop: 3 511 532 (2003 est). Area: 181 185 sq km (69 956 sq miles)

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Oklahoma! ¹ Cultural  

1. A musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It began a new era of sophistication in musical comedy and was the first of several very successful Rodgers and Hammerstein shows. “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” “Oklahoma,” and “People Will Say We're in Love” are songs from Oklahoma!

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Oklahoma ² Cultural  

1. State in the southwestern United States, bordered by Colorado and Kansas to the north, Missouri and Arkansas to the east, Texas to the south, and New Mexico to the west. Its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

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Other Word Forms

• Oklahoman
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Oklahoma

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Choctaw Oklahommaʔ “Indian (i.e., North American Indian)”, equivalent to oklah “people, nation” + ommaʔ “red,” coined by the Choctaw scholar and Presbyterian minister Allen Wright (1826–85), later principal chief of the Choctaw Nation (1866–70), and originally applied to the Indian Territory; see Five Civilized Nations ( def. ), Indian Territory ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Oklahoma Oklahoma!

The Lakers never made it past the Western Conference finals over the next four seasons, including getting swept in the conference semifinals by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2026.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Oklahoma: Clothing and shoes under $100 per item are exempt from sales tax Aug. 7-9.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Stetler has spent more than two decades building Oklahoma City’s Bible Methodist Church, where he is lead pastor, largely from nothing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

The Oklahoma resident passed away at the age of 78 late last month.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

In Oklahoma, when people from church come to our apartment, they don’t ask if they should take their shoes off.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

"They were also very much into the new wave of US musicals like Carousel and South Pacific. Their favourite was supposed to be Oklahoma!, with their favourite song being People Will Say We're In Love."

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2021

The musical Oklahoma! is in the air since he’s at a high school in Oklahoma that frequently puts on the show.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 8, 2020

Plus how the updated version of Oklahoma! took a bold approach to choreography, and trying to bring peace to L.A. gangs after Nipsey Hussle’s death.

From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2019

Oklahoma!, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2019

“And Oklahoma! There’s no way I’m going to D.C. now.”

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot