okay

informal A phonetic spelling of "OK," originally used as a facetious initialism of "oll korrect" ("all correct"), part of a fad in Boston and New York in the late 1800s of using incorrect initialisms in place of common phrases.

1. interjection Used to express acceptance, understanding, acknowledgement, etc. A: "Hey, can you give me a ride home?" B: "Okay. Hop in." Okay, okay—we can have pizza for dinner tonight. Just stop whining about it! A: "I'm going out, I'll be back tonight." B: "Okay, see you later."

2. interjection Used as a question word to seek or establish acceptance, understanding, acknowledgement, etc. We're going to move the meeting to Monday, okay? Look, I just want you to understand why I said what I said, okay?

3. adjective Satisfactory or agreeable. Was everything okay with your stay? I hope the food tastes okay. I've never made this recipe before.

4. adjective Fair, fine, or middling; neither especially good nor bad. The movie was only okay. Don't waste your money seeing it in the theater, but it might be worth a rental. My foot feels okay these days, but I'm not ready to run a marathon or anything.

5. adjective Safe; uninjured or unharmed. Sorry for making such a sharp turn there! Is everyone okay? A: "Marty, thank goodness! I was worried sick about you!" B: "I'm okay, Mom, really."

6. adjective Functioning, operating, or working properly. Thankfully, the computers are all okay despite the power surge. A: "Is it possible that the network is down?" B: "No, the network is okay. Something else must be causing the error."

7. adverb In a manner that is neither especially good nor bad. A: "Nice job!" B: "Thanks. I did okay, I guess. I think I probably could have performed a bit better in the middle of the song, but it was fine."

8. noun Approval, authorization, agreement, or endorsement. We can't start work on a new project until we get the okay from the boss. We've gotten okays from three of the four stakeholders. We're just waiting for the last one before we take the next step in development.

9. verb To give approval, authorization, agreement, or endorsement (for something). You'll need the boss to okay any changes you want to make to the budget. The professor okayed my thesis proposal, so now I need to start really digging into my research for it.

okay

verb

See OK

See:

References in periodicals archive

OKAY is a cost-efficient way for retailers to cover all categories without oversaturation of brands."

OKAY offers healthier choices in beauty

One trend OKAY is reacting to is a growing demand from men.

Xtreme Beauty Knows What Consumers Want

OKAY's proprietary process for manufacturing surgical blades/scissors uses CNC technology that ensures high volume output while maintaining critical edge tolerances.

OKAY INDUSTRIES

ATSG West Leasing Limited, an aircraft leasing company based in Ireland and a wholly owned ATSG subsidiary, has acquired and will lease the aircraft to Okay in late 2017 for terms of seven years.

Two B737-400 aircraft to be converted by ATSG subsidiaries for Okay Airline

"We're hopeful he will be okay and we'll know more in the next 48 hours."

KEATING IS TOUCH & GO

Okay Airways, the first privately owned airline in China, is headquartered in Beijing with its main hub at Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN).

Boeing, Okay Airways commit to 12 737s

Asked about their relationship, Bea simply echoed Jake's sentiment, saying, "Okay naman po kami.

Jake denies rumored split with Bea

SUNDERLAND manager Gus Poyet called for better from his team after their goalless draw at Burnley, warning "okay" was not good enough in the Barclays Premier League.

Okay is not enough

CH: "Right okay. I'll need to get her assessed by one of our nurses.

Tapes reveal how NHS 24 let Jane down; THE TRANSCRIPTS; TRANSCRIPTS HOW NHS 24 LET JANE DOWN; Suicidal mum was passed round like a piece of paper round like a piece of paper

OKAY, I'VE GOT A MEETING AT THE FOREIGN MINISTRY-BIGGCES, YOU DRAFT MY TACKING POINTS!

Lying stste: taskers, taskers, taskers

"Christian's okay. He got a knock on his knee as everybody knows (during Belgium international duty).

Benteke's boost as injury list shortens

When I was a young seminarian, people would come to my teacher with similar stories, only to hear him respond, "It's okay." For years I argued with him about this kind of a response.

It's okay