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• thumbs-up
  thumbs-up

  noun

  an act, instance, or gesture of assent, approval, or the like.
• thumbs up
  thumbs up

  Expressions of approval and disapproval respectively: “The two critics disagreed about the movie; one gave it thumbs up, the other thumbs down.” In the gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome, a thumbs-up gesture from the crowd meant that the loser would live; thumbs down meant death.

thumbs-up

American  

[thuhmz-uhp] / ˈθʌmzˈʌp /

noun

Informal.

• thumbs-ups
  plural

1. an act, instance, or gesture of assent, approval, or the like.

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thumbs up Cultural  

1. Expressions of approval and disapproval respectively: “The two critics disagreed about the movie; one gave it thumbs up, the other thumbs down.” In the gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome, a thumbs-up gesture from the crowd meant that the loser would live; thumbs down meant death.

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thumbs up Idioms  

1. An expression of approval or hopefulness, as in The town said thumbs up on building the elderly housing project. The antonym thumbs down indicates disapproval or rejection, as in Mother gave us thumbs down on serving beer at our party. Alluding to crowd signals used in Roman amphitheaters, these idioms were first recorded in English about 1600. In ancient times the meaning of the gestures was opposite that of today. Thumbs down indicated approval; thumbs up, rejection. Exactly when the reversal occurred is not known, but the present conventions were established by the early 1900s.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• thumbs-ups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of thumbs-up

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thumbs-up thumbs up thumbs-ups

He entered the courtroom with a smile and a thumbs-up to the cameras but exploded with anger at the verdicts.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

He emphasizes the point by revealing that he gave another driver a thumbs-up after being given permission to turn in a busy intersection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Earlier this year, SpaceX’s request for a smaller expansion was given the thumbs-up.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Draft experts John Hollinger and Sam Vecenie of the Athletic differed in their evaluation, with Hollinger giving the pick a thumbs-up while Vecenie expressed reservations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Zeke, the assistant manager, waves and gives us a thumbs-up.

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

After each pitch, the host asks audience members to hold up their paddle, which has a green thumbs up and a red thumbs down to indicate whether they agree or disagree.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

A 10-second video of the press yelling at McConnell to speak or give a thumbs up — with seemingly zero response from the senator — has gone viral.

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026

As he walked in to court, he refused to answer questions but gave a thumbs up and said: "Wish me luck guys. See you soon, hopefully."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Jones was in the arena conducting an interview with the Netflix broadcast team when he received the challenge and gave a thumbs up amid the crowd’s cheers.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026

There’s a gigantic black-and-orange San Francisco Giants flag on the wall, and pictures of fun stuff like him tandem skydiving with two thumbs up.

From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio

Along with 31 thumbs-ups, eight angry faces and several other emojis, the post got 24 comments.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2025

At last, I’ll be able to see everyone’s hearts and thumbs-ups.

From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2023

Zoom has a tendency to read “I’m scratching my face” as “I’m raising my hand,” and at least in my experience only responds to the most aggressive of thumbs-ups.

From The Verge ● Apr. 20, 2022

When the jurors were discharged and Guzman stood to leave the courtroom, the couple traded thumbs-ups.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2019

The Monday after the game, everyone at school was staring at me again, but instead of suspicious glances and droopy, pitying stares, I was getting nods of admiration, thumbs-ups, and smiles.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan