alright

• all right
• aight (AAVE)
• awright
• oright

From all +‎ right. Compare Old English eallriht (“all-right, just, exactly”), equivalent to al- (“all”) +‎ right.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɔːlˈɹaɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪt

alright (not comparable)

1. Nonstandard form of all right.[1][2] Satisfactory; okay; in acceptable order.

   Synonyms: acceptable, adequate, fine; see also Thesaurus:satisfactory

   • 1662 : Cantus, songs and fancies, to three, four, or five parts, both apt for voices and viols : with a brief introduction to musick, as is taught by Thomas Davidson, in the Musick-School of Aberdene by Thomas Davidson, iii. sig. B/1

     Where ever I go, both to and fro

     You have my heart alright.

   • 1922 : Ulysses by James Joyce, chapter 18

     …if I went by his advices every blessed hat I put on does that suit me yes take that thats alright the one like a wedding cake standing up miles off my head…

   • 1932 : "Goodbye, Christ" by Langston Hughes

     You did alright in your day, I reckon—

     But that day's gone now.

   • 1939 : Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, chapter 1.40

     Bladyughfoulmoecklenburgwhurawhorascortastrumpapornanennykocksapastippatappatupperstrippuckputtanach, eh? You have it alright.

   • 2000 : House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, page 105

     "You're alright Johnny," she said in a way that actually made him feel alright. At least for a little while.

alright

1. (informal) Used to indicate acknowledgement or acceptance; OK
2. (Britain, informal) A generic greeting; hello; how are you.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hello

• Some distinguish between alright and all right by using alright to mean "fine, good, okay" and all right to mean "all correct". Alternatively (or in addition to the previous), Alright may be used as an interjection akin to "OK", whilst all right is used in the sense of "unharmed, healthy".
• The contracted term is considered nonstandard by Garner's Modern American Usage and American Heritage Dictionary. Indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that although analogous forms exist in words such as already, altogether, and always, "the contracted form is strongly criticized in the vast majority of usage guides, but without cogent reasons".[3] The Oxford Dictionaries also conclude that "alright remains nonstandard"[4] and that it is "still regarded as being unacceptable in formal writing".[5] Other dictionaries and style manuals also consider it incorrect or less correct than all right.[6]

• (greeting): alright me babber, alright me lover

• alrighty

• → Afrikaans: oraait