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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

"It seems to be getting the thumbs up on social media from Scotland fans but there has been a dispute about whether it is pink or orange," Husband told BBC Scotland News.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

She flashed two thumbs up to her coaching team before dropping in.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

“Why in the world would we give a seal of approval or a thumbs up to make you the largest behemoth on the planet related to content?”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

He said it was good to see Sinners get "this broad a series of accolades and thumbs up from across the whole industry".

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026

In the center of the picture, a kid sits on a woman’s shoulders and puts two thumbs up toward the camera.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer