US /ˌoʊˈkeɪ/ UK /ˌəʊˈkeɪ/
adv adj noun verb Freq #207

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Satisfactory; good enough but not excellent.

    The food was OK, but nothing special.

  2. 2
    adj

    Allowed or acceptable.

    Is it OK if I borrow your pen?

  3. 3
    noun

    Permission or approval to do something.

    We can't start the project until the boss gives the OK.

  4. 4
    verb

    To officially approve or agree to something.

    The manager OK'd our request for an extra day off.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · satisfactory; good enough... all rightfine
2 adj · allowed or acceptable. all rightpermissible
3 noun · permission or approval to... approvalgo-aheadgreen light
4 verb · to officially approve or... approvesanction
Word family
Derived forms a-oka-okaykkthxbyem'kayok'erokayokey-dokeyokish

Etymology

Origin disputed. Wikipedia lists many possible etymologies, of which the most widely accepted is that it is an abbreviation of oll/orl korrect, a comical spelling of all correct, which first appeared in print in The Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, as part of a fad for similar fanciful abbreviations in the United States during the late 1830s. The expression became popular through its use in the presidential campaign of Martin Van Buren in 1840, who was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and then slowly acquired other meanings. The Choctaw word oke, okeh (“it is so”), common in Choctaw translation…

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