Alright

How to spell alright

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce alright

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alright mean?

1. adjectiveSatisfactory, acceptable, or in good order, though not outstanding.
2. adverbIn a satisfactory way; well enough.

Alright in a sentence

• adjective

  The hotel was alright, but the breakfast was disappointing.

• adverb

  The presentation went alright despite the technical glitches.

• adjective

  She felt alright after a short rest and went back to work.

• adverb

  The children managed alright on their own for the afternoon.

Where does alright come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the single-word form of the older phrase 'all right', and both elements are native English words of Germanic stock. 'All' descends from the Old English 'eall', meaning 'entirely' or 'the whole of', while 'right' comes from the Old English 'riht', meaning 'straight', 'correct', or 'just'. Writers had long used the two words separately to mean 'completely correct' or 'in good order', but the squeezed-together spelling 'alright' only appeared in the late nineteenth century, following the well-trodden path of earlier fusions like 'already' and 'altogether'. Many style guides still treat 'alright' as informal and prefer the two-word 'all right', which is exactly why the word feels like a spelling decision rather than a fixed form. The trap is the single 'l': because the parent phrase has a doubled 'll' in 'all', writers often slip 'allright' onto the page, a form that is never accepted.

How the word is built

• all (entirely, wholly)
• right (correct, satisfactory), fused into one word by analogy with 'already' and 'altogether'