Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

right

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
adverb British English pronunciation: right /raɪt/
 
  1. 1
    exactly

    Their office is right in the middle of town.

    The keys were right here a minute ago.

    ‘Am I late?’ ‘No, you’re right on time.’

    right behind/in front of:

    Don’t worry – I’m right behind you.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  rightThesaurus entry for this meaning of right
  2. 2
    immediately

    I knew right from the start we were going to have problems.

    right after/before:

    He arrived right after me.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  rightThesaurus entry for this meaning of right
  3. 3
    all the way
    right up/down:

    The water came right up to our knees.

    right through:

    My foot went right through the floorboards.

    right into/out of:

    The car swerved and went right into a wall.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  rightThesaurus entry for this meaning of right
  4. 4
    completely

    It’d gone right out of my mind until just now.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  rightThesaurus entry for this meaning of right
  7. 7
    in the way that you would normally hope something to be
    go right:

    Everything went just right and the party was a big success.

    do right (to do something):

    ‘You did right to call me,’ he said.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  rightThesaurus entry for this meaning of right

phrases

This is the British English definition of right. View American English definition of right.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

glottal stop

a sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken...

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog