OK

• (stressed)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊˈkeɪ/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊˈkeɪ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (unstressed)
  • IPA^(key): /əˈkeɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

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.^[1]

The Choctaw word oke, okeh (“it is so”), common in Choctaw translations of the Bible, could also explain OK's variety of affirmative definitions. Additionally, okeh was the most common etymology of okay in dictionaries until the 1960s, and linguistically predates Boston's O.K.. However, this theory suffers from the fact that the Choctaw language was relatively obscure and generally spoken (sometimes in a pidgin form) mainly with African-American slaves.

• O.K., o.k., ok, okay, O. K., o. k., okeh, okey, okie

OK (plural OKs or OK's)

1. Endorsement; approval; acceptance; acquiescence.

   We can start as soon as we get the OK.

• (endorsement or approval): approval, endorsement, green light, go-ahead, nod, thumbs up

• NG

OK (third-person singular simple present OKs or OK's, present participle OKing or OK'ing, simple past and past participle OKed or OK'd or OK'ed)

1. (transitive) To approve; to accept; to acquiesce to.

   I don't want to OK this amount of money.

   • 2025 March 30, Tierney Sneed, “Is DOGE actually an agency? The answer could have major ramifications”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     In the data case, Judge John Bates has OK’d four depositions, while green-lighting other discovery requests from the challengers.

2. (transitive, computing) To confirm by activating a button marked OK.
   • 2001, Mike Collins, Pro Tools: Practical Recording, Editing and Mixing for Music Production:

     Type a suitable name for your Marker and OK the dialogue box.

   • 2008, Martin Evening, Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers:

     When you OK the crop, the image size will be adjusted to match the front image resolution.

• approve
• greenlight

OK (comparative more OK or OKer, superlative most OK or OKest)

1. All right, acceptable, permitted.

   Is it OK if I spend the night?

   • 1927, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados Mysteries:

     'Everything O.K. so far as I have found,' was the reassuring answer.

   • 1967 August 19, Judith Crist, “This Week’s Movies”, in Merrill Panitt, editor, TV Guide, volume 15, number 33, Radnor, Pa.: Triangle Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A-5, column 2:

     “A Summer Places”s simple thesis is that sexual promiscuity among the young is OK in general but it’s even more OK if the adults have a record of adultery and it’s even OKer than that if everybody has lots of money. But who wants to go slumming (even morally) in an armchair?

   • 2026 January 29, Angela Haupt, “Can I Ask Someone if They’re on Ozempic?”, in TIME‎^[3], archived from the original on 1 February 2026:

     If someone has been transparent about their journey with GLP-1s, it’s OK to ask specific follow-up questions, she adds.

2. Satisfactory, reasonably good; not exceptional.

   The soup was OK, but the dessert was excellent.

   • 2004, Chu-Ching Chen, “The Returnee”, in Tony Bradman, editor, Skin Deep, London: Puffin Books, →ISBN, page 222:

     I watched her pale complexion and her creaseless school uniform as she shyly introduced herself in front of the class, and decided she was no different from all the others in Saginomiya Girls’ High School: rather smart, from an OK family, at any rate OKer than mine, with enough time and money to allow her to muse over where to get the latest version of tamagochi or that tartan dress with an above-knee hemline advertised in Seventeen.

3. Satisfied (with); willing to accept a state of affairs.
   • 2012, Roni Jay, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Do For Your Children:

     If you leave the kids in the creche for one morning on your week's holiday, and they are OK with that, then it's fine.

4. In good health or a good emotional state.

   He's not feeling well now, but he should be OK after some rest.

   Are you OK?

   • 2014, Sue Moorcroft, chapter 18, in The Wedding Proosal, Camberley, Surrey: Choc Lit, →ISBN, page 200:

     ‘Are we OK? Is this—?’ She made a gesture to include their two bodies. / ‘This is the OKest I’ve been in years.’

   • 2022 October 25, L. J. Shrum, Elena Fumagalli, Tina M. Lowrey, “Coping with loneliness through consumption”, in Journal of Consumer Psychology, volume 33, number 2, →DOI, page 452:

     In France, the French postal service La Poste provides a subscription service in which postal workers visit elderly subscribers to make sure they are okay, do not need anything, and provide brief social interaction.

• (all right, permissible): allowed, all right, permissible
• (satisfactory): adequate, all right, not bad, satisfactory
• (in good health or a good emotional state): fine, well

• (antonym(s) of “all right, permissible”): forbidden
• (antonym(s) of “satisfactory”): NG, bad, inadequate, poor, unsatisfactory
• (antonym(s) of “in good health or a good emotional state”): ill, poorly, sick, under the weather, unwell

OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)

1. Satisfactorily, sufficiently well.

   The team did OK in the playoffs.

• (satisfactorily): adequately, satisfactorily

• (antonym(s) of “satisfactorily”): NG, badly, inadequately, poorly, unsatisfactorily

OK

1. Used to indicate acknowledgement or acceptance.

   Synonyms: okey-dokey, okeh, okey, k, 'kay, m'kay, A-OK, all right

   I promise to give it back. – OK.

   Let's meet again this afternoon. – OK.

   Shut up! – OK, OK.

   OK! I get it! Stop nagging me!

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Come by this afternoon. — Okay.

2. (computing) Used to dismiss a dialog box or confirm a prompt.
3. Used to introduce a sentence in order to draw attention to the importance of what is being said.

   Synonyms: now, now then

   OK, I'm thinking of a number…

4. Used in turn-taking, serving as a request to the speaker to grant the turn to the interrupter.

   You always do this to me! When we were at your mother’s, you said that… – OK, OK, …

5. Used to sarcastically or sardonically indicate agreement with the previous statement.

• oll korrect
• 👌
• Wikipedia article on "okay"
• Wikipedia article on the "OK" hand gesture
• Wikipedia article on "A-OK" and the hand gesture

• How 'OK' took over the world, Allan Metcalf, BBC News Magazine (2011 February 18)
• The ‘O’ Word, Roy Blount, Jr., The New York Times Sunday Book Review (2010 November 19)
• OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word, Allan Metcalf, Oxford University Press (2010)
• Jim Fay (16 September 2009), “The Choctaw Expression "Okeh" and the Americanism "Okay"”, in Illinoisprairie.info‎^[4], archived from the original on 24 December 2010.
• Allen Read, the Expert of 'O.K.,' Dies at 96, Douglas Martin, The New York Times Obituaries (2002 October 18)
• What does "OK" stand for?, Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope (1985)
• “OK”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

OK

1. (postal) Abbreviation of Oklahoma: a state of the United States.

• (Oklahoma): OK., Ok., Ok

• (Oklahoma): Oklahoma, Okla, Okla.

Possibly a shortening of Chinese 卡拉OK. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

OK (plural not attested)

1. (Hong Kong) Karaoke.

• Patrick J. Cummings, Hans-Georg Wolf (2011), A Dictionary of Hong Kong English: Words from the Fragrant Harbor, Hong Kong University Press, →ISBN, page 126

• KO, Ko, ko

Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˌoˈkej]

• Homophone: hoquei (Valencian)

OK

1. OK

OK

1. OK

• (Mandarin, one of the ways to transliterate into Chinese characters) 歐克 / 欧克 (ōukè)
• ok, Ok

Borrowed from English OK.

OK

1. (colloquial, sometimes nonstandard) OK

   你OK嗎？／你OK吗？  ―  Nǐ ōukèi ma?  ―  Are you OK?

   你O唔OK呀？ [Cantonese]  ―  nei⁵ ou¹ m⁴ ou¹ kei¹ aa³? [Jyutping]  ―  Are you OK?

   • 「70%咖啡OK嗎？」 [MSC, trad.]
     「70%咖啡OK吗？」 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 夏渥客, 11樓 - Page 90

     “70% kāfēi OK ma?” [Pinyin]

     "Is 70% coffee alright?"

OK

1. (colloquial, sometimes nonstandard) OK

   上頭說OK就OK了。 [MSC, trad.]
   上头说OK就OK了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Shàngtou shuō ōukèi jiù ōukèi le. [Pinyin]

   If higher authorities say "OK", it means "OK".

• 好 (hǎo), 好的 (hǎo de), 好吧 (hǎo ba)
• 行 (xíng)

OK

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) moderately; fairly

   呢科都OK易㗎。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   ni¹ fo¹ dou¹ ou¹ kei¹ ji⁶ gaa³. [Jyutping]

   This course is fairly easy.

OK

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to OK; to approve; to accept
   • 2020, 斗零, 《拍廣吿其實唔難》, Hong Kong: 非凡出版, →ISBN, page 219:

     第一，香港廣吿嘅製作時間短，尤其係後製時間，基本上由決定拍廣吿到廣吿見街，平均都係一個月左右，而 CG（電腦動畫）通常係要客戶ok咗個初剪版本（rough cut）先會開始做，所以即係得一個星期左右，咁係完全唔夠時間。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     第一，香港广告嘅制作时间短，尤其系后制时间，基本上由决定拍广告到广告见街，平均都系一个月左右，而 CG（电脑动画）通常系要客户ok咗个初剪版本（rough cut）先会开始做，所以即系得一个星期左右，咁系完全唔够时间。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     dai⁶ jat¹, hoeng¹ gong² gwong² gou³ ge³ zai³ zok³ si⁴ gaan³ dyun², jau⁴ kei⁴ hai⁶ hau⁶ zai³ si⁴ gaan³, gei¹ bun² soeng⁶ jau⁴ kyut³ ding⁶ paak³ gwong² gou³ dou³ gwong² gou³ gin³ gaai¹, ping⁴ gwan¹ dou¹ hai⁶ jat¹ go³ jyut⁶ zo² jau^6-2, ji⁴ CG (din⁶ nou⁵ dung⁶ waa^6-2) tung¹ soeng⁴ hai⁶ jiu³ haak³ wu⁶ ou¹ kei¹ zo² go³ co¹ zin² baan² bun² (rough cut) sin¹ wui⁵ hoi¹ ci² zou⁶, so² ji⁵ zik¹ hai⁶ dak¹ jat¹ go³ sing¹ kei⁴ zo² jau^6-2, gam² hai⁶ jyun⁴ cyun⁴ m⁴ gau³ si⁴ gaan³. [Jyutping]

     First, the production time of advertisements in Hong Kong is short, especially for post-production, where basically, from deciding to shoot an ad to the ad hitting the streets, it is on average about one month. As for CG (computer graphics), usually we would only start the project after our client OKs the rough cut, so it's just about one week's time, which is definitely not enough time.

• 卡拉OK (kǎlā'ōukèi)
• OK繃／OK绷 (ōukēibèng)

• IPA^(key): /oːˈkaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

OK f (plural OK's, no diminutive)

1. abbreviation of operatiekamer

• → Indonesian: OK

From English OK

• IPA^(key): /ˈokei̯/, [ˈo̞k̟e̞i̯]
• IPA^(key): /ˈoːkoː/, [ˈo̞ːko̞ː]
• Rhymes: -okei

OK

1. alternative form of okei

OK

1. alternative form of okei
2. (computing) OK (in buttons, etc.)

   Synonym: (uncommon) selvä

• “OK”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[5] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

• o' kay, okay, O. K.

Borrowed from English OK.

• IPA^(key): /ɔk/, /ɔ.ke/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

OK

1. OK (endorsement; approval)

   Synonyms: d'accord, entendu

From Dutch operatiekamer of operatie (“surgery”) +‎ kamer (“room”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˌo ˈka/ [ˌo ˈka]
• Rhymes: -a

OK (plural OK-OK)

1. (healthcare, colloquial) operating theatre, operating room

   Synonyms: kamar bedah, ruang bedah, ruang operasi

Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

• IPA^(key): /oˈkɛ.i/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛi

OK (invariable)

1. OK

OK

1. OK

Borrowed from English OK.

• (Tokyo) オーケー [óꜜòkèè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1][2][3]
• (Tokyo) オーケー [òóꜜkèè] (Nakadaka – [2])^[3]
• (Tokyo) オーケー [òókéꜜè] (Nakadaka – [3])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [o̞ːke̞ː]

• (Tokyo) オッケー [óꜜkkèè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [o̞k̚ke̞ː]

OK(オーケー) or OK(オッケー) • (ōkē or okkē) 

1. agreement; approval; okay
   • 2009 January 10, Tsugumi Ohba with Obata, Takeshi, “３ページ ペンとネーム [Page 3: Pens and Names]”, in BAKUMAN(バクマン)。 [BAKUMAN.], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 104:

     マンガの下(した)描(が)きみたいなもん　まずこれを描(か)いて編(へん)集(しゅう)者(しゃ)に見(み)せてＯ(オー)Ｋ(ケー)が出(で)たら初(はじ)めて原(げん)稿(こう)にできるＯ(オー)Ｋ(ケー)が出(で)るまでは何(なん)度(ど)でも描(か)き直(なお)し　もっともネームで見(み)せていいのはマンガ家(か)としての才(さい)能(のう)を認(みと)められた奴(やつ)な

     Manga no shitagaki mitai na mon Mazu kore o kaite henshūsha ni misete ōkē ga detara hajimete genkō ni dekiru ōkē ga deru made wa nando demo kakinaoshi Motto mo nēmu de misete ii no wa mangaka toshite no sainō o mitomerareta yatsu na

     It’s basically a rough sketch for manga. First you make one and show it to the editor, and only if it’s okayed can you go ahead with the draft. You may have to do it over a couple of times till it gets the okay. Though good mangaka can just pass with the name alone.

2. no problem

   電(でん)子(し)レンジＯ(オー)Ｋ(ケー)のお皿(さら)

   denshi renji ōkē no o-sara

   microwave-safe plates

• N(エヌ)G(ジー) (enujī)

OK(オーケー) or OK(オッケー) • (ōkē or okkē) -na (adnominal OK(オーケー)な (ōkē na), adverbial OK(オーケー)に (ōkē ni))

1. OK; all right; fine

OK(オーケー) or OK(オッケー) • (ōkē or okkē) 

1. OK
   • 2009 August 25, Kozue Amano, “第(だい)２(に)話(わ) 夢(ゆめ)ヶ丘(おか)高(こう)校(こう) [Chapter 2: Yumegaoka High School]”, in [あまんちゅ](ＡＭＡＮＣＨＵ)！ [AMANCHU!], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Mag Garden, →ISBN, pages 33–38:

     その１(いち)「準(じゅん)備(び)」っ　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その２(に)「位(い)置(ち)」っ　お家(うち)の玄(げん)関(かん)　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その３(さん)「時(じ)間(かん)」っ　７(しち)時(じ)３０(さんじゅっ)分(ぷん)　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その４(よん)「空(くう)気(かん)」っ…………ピッ　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その５(ご)「行(こう)動(どう)」っ　レッツらゴ——！Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼

     Sono ichi “Junbi”h okkē!! Sono ni “Ichi”h o-uchi no genkan okkē!! Sono san “Jikan”h shichiji sanjuppun okkē!! Sono yon “Kūkan”h... pih okkē!! Sono go “Kōdō”h rettsu ra gō—! Okkē!!

     Number 1 “Preparation”, check!! Number 2 “Location”: Entryway, check!! Number 3 “Time”: 7:30, check!! Number 4 “Air”... Hwee, check!! Number 5 “Action”: Let’s la gooo! Check!!

From English OK.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [o̞kʰe̞i]
• Phonetic hangul: [오케이]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	okei
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	okei
McCune–Reischauer?	ok'ei
Yale Romanization?	o.kheyi

OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)

1. (colloquial) good

• NG (NG)

OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)

1. (colloquial) OK

• IPA^(key): /uˈko/

OK

1. OK, okay

OK

1. OK, okay

OK

1. OK, okay

• ok, Ok

Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

OK

1. OK (indicates acknowledgement or acceptance)

   Synonyms: tudo bem, certo, tá

OK m (plural OKs)

1. OK (an indication of acknowledgement or acceptance)

• “OK”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• okey, okay

Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

• IPA^(key): /ˌoˈkei/ [ˌoˈkei̯]
• IPA^(key): /ˌouˈkei/ [ˌou̯ˈkei̯] (less common, chiefly US)
  • Rhymes: -ei
• IPA^(key): /ˌoˈka/ [ˌoˈka]
  • Rhymes: -a
• IPA^(key): (also humorous) /ˈok/ [ˈok]
  • Rhymes: -ok
• Syllabification: O‧K

OK (invariable)

1. OK

OK

1. OK

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

OK

1. OK, okay

   Synonym: okej

OK

1. OK, okay

   Synonym: okej

OK

1. OK, okay

   Synonym: okej

• “OK”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “OK”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “OK”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

• ko

• ô kê, ok

From French OK.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔo˧˧ ke˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔow˧˧ kej˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔow˧˧ kej˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: ô kê

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

OK

1. (informal) OK, okay (acknowledgement or acceptance)
2. (computing) OK, okay (dismissal of a dialog box or confirmation of a prompt)

OK

1. (informal) OK; good; fine

• (acknowledgement or acceptance): ờ, ừ, ừm
• (dismissal of a dialog box or confirmation of a prompt): được

• (antonym(s) of “dismissal of a dialog box or confirmation of a prompt”): hủy bỏ, hủy, thôi

• ko