Poll: Is 'alright' an acceptable word?

Comments:

Joan - 24th November 2003 23:12

I would recommend using 'all right' in writing.

willbut - 28th December 2003 00:29

The Cobuild dictionary recognises it.

rhapsomatrics - 7th February 2005 20:21

The word,ideally speaking,is supposed to exist as an adverbial phrase(more than one word) which denotes emphasis.To this end,it should read "all right"...all of a particular thing has/have been parfectly put in place.It means,on the other hand,that ...all is right"

Jason - 15th March 2007 04:21

Alright is a supposed compound word of all right. All right means all correct. The way we use alright is, its ok. It alright. However, such a word does not exist.

Dalriata - 21st April 2007 23:00

"Alright" isn't a word.

Martin - 8th August 2007 14:24

As Dalriata stated so directly, "Alright isn't a word." It may be someday, but it is not one yet.

ACE - 13th August 2007 02:05

There's no way that I would ever use "alright" in writing. It's completely unprofessional and makes you look stupid.

Lucy - 16th August 2007 09:26

I agree with Ace; you will never catch me using "alright" in my writings. It's sloppy and a bit lazy. I mean, honestly, how hard is it to put one more L and a space?

SimonTrew - 13th September 2007 16:08

On the analogy of "altogether", "already", "almost" and so on, I see no problem with "alright". Though there is (or should be) a distinction between "all right" and "alright", just as there is (or should be) between "altogether" and "all together"-- and don't get me started on my "every day"/"everyday" hate.

Travis - 16th December 2007 15:00

What do you mean "is alright an acceptable word"? This is so wrong. It should not be a word because you can't make two words one without an apostrophe, with the exceptions being all ready and already; but even these two words have different meanings. You can't have two words that mean the same thing, with different spellings!

Jim - 27th February 2008 22:32

This is how I work it: Alright as in okay, or good,ex. "We are doing alright" But All right as in all not wrong. ex. My test answers were all right. So they both work.

Me - 28th May 2008 22:34

How can we make, "ain't" a word but "alright" is not allowed. Why do we only cater the ignorant?

Michael - 1st June 2008 11:49

alright is a perfectly acceptable word. It is the way our language has evolved and if some people can't deal with that they should just not use it. there's really no point being uppity about one of the most informally used words in our language.

CM - 19th July 2008 22:35

Is alright a word? No. Is it used commonly it today's writing practices? Yes. Does that make it right? No. Do I use it? Unfortunately, yes. Will I continue to use it? I am still debating that, but I doubt it, not until it becomes a true word. Ain't is not a word. It is a slang term only. There is a huge difference. But then, anyways is acceptable, so what the heck?

Shubha - 10th October 2008 18:01

Alright is a word according to the Webster's dictionary.

emmanuel - 9th January 2009 18:19

all right - used as an adjective means "unhurt" or "satisfactory". If used as an adverb, it means ":well enough." All right should be written as two words. (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2003)

English teacher - 23rd March 2009 18:18

it's just like writing alwrong...we wouldn't write that, so why would anyone think alright is a word?

Matthew - 9th April 2009 01:41

"it's just like writing alwrong...we wouldn't write that, so why would anyone think alright is a word? " Following that logic, "altogether," "almost," and "already" aren't words. Dictionaries define words, the populace creates them. If the populace decides that "alright" is a word, it's a word. To argue otherwise is to stifle the evolution of language.

Missyeunchae - 22nd July 2009 15:20

In oxford dictionary, al·right / "O:l'raItÛ"Á:l£/ adverb another spelling of ALL RIGHT that some people consider to be incorrect But i would like to say that you should use 'all right' in writing.

Matt - 11th October 2009 02:55

I agree with Jim on this. It's a matter of context. Examples that feel wrong (to me): A) What did you think of the movie? B) It was all right. A) How did you do on the quiz? B) I got it alright. In the first example, it seems more suitable, in my opinion, to use "alright", while the second example feels completely wrong. Using the logic that we would say "alwrong" doesn't work. We say "altogether", but don't say "alapart". We say "almost", but not "alsome", "allittle" or "alfew". And saying "already" isn't the same as saying "all ready": A) Mom got back from the store. B) All ready? A) We've packed our bags and are already to go. Both of those are wrong. The meanings are different, though they may be similar. Just as "alright" might not share the same contextual meanings as "all right". And why is it alright to use "ok", "o.k." and "okay", but it's not all right to use "alright"? The least correct version would be "okay", based on the origin of the word, but it's the version I use most of the time, personally considering "ok" to be lazy. :p

Tiger - 7th December 2009 00:04

I use 'alright' fairly often, and but never in situations where 'all is right'. I believe the definition is in the context, but it never should cross the line of meaning 'all correct'. How was your day? / It was alright. (mediocre) How was the concert? / It was alright! (fantastic) I'm going to the store. / Alright. (okay) Alright, what's going on here? (excuse me/attention here) In none of these examples would the phrase 'all right' be grammatically correct as there was nothing to be 'all correct', or that would not have been the intended meaning. However, 'alright' is acceptable as it doesn't really mean 'all right'. Just my perspective, of course. Growing up, 'alright' was always a completely acceptable word. Maybe it's regional. I don't know. :p

dreamscape - 29th December 2009 16:41

Although it's not commonly accepted as a 'real' word, 'alright' has a distinct meaning and usage from 'all right'. As pointed out by another poster, 'alright' is used to mean "it's OK" or "it's acceptable", but not necessarily all correct and certainly not perfect. 'All right', on the other hand, is used adverbially to denote correctness or a lack of error/problem. To put it simply, 'alright' is softer and requires a lesser degree of acceptibility than 'all right'. In the right context, this English teacher says that 'alright' is all right, but generally it's just alright.

Madison - 9th February 2010 23:28

I believe that "alright" is not a word. However (Hope you don't mind that I quote you, Matthew) "Following that logic, 'altogether,' 'almost,' and 'already' aren't words." I think that these words evolved from "all together," "all most" (? on that one) and "all ready" and eventually took on different meanings and got added to the dictionary.

bptr - 2nd August 2010 19:57

"Alright" IS an acceptable word and is needed since it means something completely differerent from "all right". This is a simple case of the English language evolving amidst the miriad examples of it being corrupted and eroded. I like to use the example of the word "eberyday" versus "ever day". They also have distinct meanings. 'Sweeping and mopping are my EVERDAY duties because I do them EVERY DAY"

John Schofield - 2nd November 2010 16:15

Our family, friends and business associates have been using "alright" over at least the last 100 years to mean "free of problems". It has never included "all" (i.e. every instance) in its meaning - "all right" to us is a totally different expression and we would not use it in the same context. Therefore I insist that I know what I mean when I say "alright", it must be counted as a correct word and it has a quite different meaning from "all right". Examples are: "Are you feeling alright?" - "Will it work alright?" - "Alright, I'll do that" - "Alright, now please listen to my version" - "It will be alright on the night". The word "all" would not be appropriate in any of these cases and "right" would often not apply either.

Internet god 76 - 11th December 2010 23:29

Not a word. never

Jez Burns - 22nd February 2011 23:02

Is it a word yet?

P Belski - 26th April 2011 19:00

No! Alright is never all right! I remember my teachers drilling "Al might be right, but alright is never right." And "alright" isn't a compound word. Allright would be a compound word.

Cate - 21st May 2011 22:07

It's not a word. Neither is nowadays. If I were your teacher I'd give 1061 of you F's.

Celeste - 11th October 2011 14:24

"Alright" is NOT a word!

Alex - 12th October 2011 04:43

Even though "alright" is not added to the dictionary yet, it definitely should be. A lot of people are using it. Kind of seems pointless NOT to put it in there.

Sam - 29th December 2011 02:31

I really don't know what you're all going on about - it IS in the dictionary and IS a word.