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OK

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "ok"

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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OK (plural OKs or OK's)

  1. Endorsement; approval; acceptance; acquiescence.
    We can start as soon as we get the OK.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Translations
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Verb

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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)

  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.
Synonyms
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Translations
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Adjective

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

  1. All right, acceptable, permitted.
    Is it OK if I spend the night?
    • 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?
  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.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Translations
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Adverb

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OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)

  1. Satisfactorily, sufficiently well.
    The team did OK in the playoffs.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Translations
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Interjection

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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!
  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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Derived terms

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term derived from OK

Descendants

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Neuman, Scott (23 July 2025) “OK, is Martin Van Buren responsible for the tiny word that punches above its weight?”, in All Things Considered‎[1], retrieved 23 July 2025

Etymology 2

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Proper noun

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OK

  1. (postal) Abbreviation of Oklahoma: a state of the United States.
Alternative forms
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Synonyms
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Etymology 3

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

Noun

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OK (plural not attested)

  1. (Hong Kong) Karaoke.
References
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  • 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

Anagrams

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Chinese

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Alternative forms

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

Etymology

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Borrowed from English OK.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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?

Interjection

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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".

Synonyms

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Adverb

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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.

Verb

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OK

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to OK; to approve; to accept

See also

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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OK f (plural OK's)

  1. abbreviation of operatiekamer

Descendants

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  • → Indonesian: OK

Finnish

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Etymology

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< English OK

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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OK

  1. alternative form of okei

Interjection

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OK

  1. alternative form of okei
  2. (computing) OK (in buttons, etc.)
    Synonym: (uncommon) selvä

Further reading

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French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English OK.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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OK

  1. OK (endorsement; approval)
    Synonyms: d'accord, entendu

Indonesian

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Etymology

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

Noun

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OK (plural OK-OK)

  1. (healthcare, colloquial) operating theatre, operating room
    Synonym: kamar bedah

Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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OK (invariable)

  1. OK

Interjection

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OK

  1. OK

References

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  1. ^ OK in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Japanese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English OK.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

Antonyms

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Adjective

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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

Interjection

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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!!

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

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Etymology

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From English OK.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)

  1. (colloquial) good

Antonyms

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Interjection

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OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)

  1. (colloquial) OK

Norwegian

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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OK

  1. OK, okay

Adjective

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OK

  1. OK, okay

Interjection

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OK

  1. OK, okay

Portuguese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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OK

  1. OK (indicates acknowledgement or acceptance)
    Synonyms: tudo bem, certo, tá

Noun

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OK m (plural OKs)

  1. OK (an indication of acknowledgement or acceptance)

Swedish

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Adverb

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OK

  1. OK, okay
    Synonym: okej

Adjective

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OK

  1. OK, okay
    Synonym: okej

Interjection

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OK

  1. OK, okay
    Synonym: okej

References

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Anagrams

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Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From French OK.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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OK

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

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

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

Anagrams

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