alright

English

Alternative forms

• aight (African-American Vernacular, UK)
• alrite (informal)
• awright, oright, o-rite, orite (pronunciation spelling)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɔːlˈɹaɪt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (colloquial) IPA^(key): /ɔːˈɹaɪt/, /ɒˈɹaɪt/, /əˈɹaɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɔlˈɹaɪt/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˌɑlˈɹaɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ɒːlˈɹʌɪt/
  • (Ottawa Valley) IPA^(key): [ɒː(ɫ)ˈɹəi̯t], [ə(ɫ)ˈɹiːt], [ˈɒː(ɫ)ɹɪt], [-ʔ]
• Rhymes: -aɪt

Adjective

alright (not comparable)

1. (sometimes proscribed) Alternative form of all right; 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 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 18]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     [I]f 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, Langston Hughes, Goodbye, Christ:

     You did alright in your day, I reckon—
     But that day's gone now.

   • 1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC, part I, page 40:

     Bladyughfoulmoecklenburgwhurawhorascortastrumpapornanennykocksapastippatappatupperstrippuckputtanach, eh? You have it alright.

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

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

Derived terms

• bit of alright
• you're alright

Adverb

alright (not comparable)

1. (sometimes proscribed) Alternative form of all right.

Interjection

alright

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

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hello

Derived terms

• alrightnik
• alrighty

 

Related terms

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

Usage notes

• 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", while 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 (and, indeed, although), "the contracted form is strongly criticized in the vast majority of usage guides, but without cogent reasons". The Oxford Dictionaries also conclude that "alright remains nonstandard" and that it is "still regarded as being unacceptable in formal writing". Other dictionaries and style manuals also consider it incorrect or less correct than all right.

Descendants

• → Afrikaans: ôraait
• → Dutch: olrijt