all right

¹

[ awl rahyt, awl rahyt ]

adverb

1. yes; very well; OK:

   All right, I'll go with you.

2. (used as an interrogative or interrogative tag) OK?; do you agree?:

   We'll deal with this problem tomorrow, all right?

3. satisfactorily; acceptably:

   His work is coming along all right.

4. without fail; certainly:

   You'll hear about this, all right!

adjective

1. safe; sound:

   Are you all right?

2. satisfactory; acceptable:

   His performance was all right, but I've seen better.

3. Informal. reliable; good:

   That fellow is all right.

all-right

²

[ awl-rahyt ]

adjective

, Informal.

1. agreeable, acceptable, or commendable:

   an all-right plan.

all right

adjective

1. adequate; satisfactory
2. unharmed; safe
3. all-right slang.
   1. acceptable

      an all-right book

   2. reliable

      an all-right guy

sentence substitute

1. very well: used to express assent

adverb

1. satisfactorily; adequately

   the car goes all right

2. without doubt

   he's a bad one, all right

Usage

See alright

Spelling Note

See alright.

Word History and Origins

Origin of all right¹

First recorded in 1100–50; originally an adverbial phrase; compare Middle English al ri(g)ht “indeed, straightway, at once,” late Old English eall riht “just (as)”

Origin of all right²

First recorded in 1815–25

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. (a) bit of all right, British. quite satisfactory (used as an understatement):

   The way he saved that child's life was a bit of all right.

Example Sentences

“I’m used to imagining what a keyboard part would be, and this and that. Now, they’re all right there.”

From Los Angeles Times

You could say Lynch, Rita Marley and those expectations got together and felt all right in “Bob Marley: One Love.”

From Los Angeles Times

“You have one of the best of all right here, David McCormick. You know, that …. David is here someplace. You know, we just left him. He’s a great guy,” Trump said.

From Salon

“Some of the things he says, it’s all right to say it at a bar with your buddies, but you don’t say that stuff out loud,” said Schofield, a 63-year-old chemical salesman.

From Los Angeles Times

“I was terrified of failing and embarrassing myself. But the last couple years, I’ve done a lot of things that I was really scared of, and everything turned out all right.”

From Los Angeles Times