“ok” in Arabic dialects
adjectiveadverb
How do you say ok across the major spoken Arabic dialects? Compare ok (adjective, adverb) sense by sense across 5 dialects — Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Iraqi, Maghrebi — with English meaning, native script, transliteration and usage.
What does “ok” mean?
adjective
- Being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition“an all-right movie”
adverb
- An expression of agreement normally occurring at the beginning of a sentence
English definitions from Princeton WordNet.
Quick comparison across dialects
| Dialect | Arabic (ok) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Arabic | تمام | tamām |
| Levantine Arabic | ماشي | māshi |
| Gulf Arabic | أوكي | ōkē |
| Iraqi Arabic | أوكي | ōkē |
| Maghrebi Arabic | لاباس | labas |
Full breakdown by dialect
Egyptian Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| تمام | tamām | all right, fine |
| كويس | kwayyes | good, satisfactory |
| ماشي | māshi | acceptable, agreed |
| ماشي | māshi | all right, agreed |
| تمام | tamām | fine, perfect, all right |
| أوكيه | ōkēh | all right (loanword) |
Levantine Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| ماشي | māshi | alright, fine, acceptable |
| تمام | tamām | fine, perfect, alright |
| منيح | mnīḥ | fine, well (Lebanese/Syrian) |
| كويس | kwayyes | fine, well (Jordanian/Palestinian) |
| أوكيه | ōkē | OK, alright (loanword) |
| أوكي | ōkē | alright, fine |
| ماشي | māshi | alright, agreed, 'walking' |
| تمام | tamām | perfect, great, all good |
| طيب | ṭayyeb | good, alright |
Gulf Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| أوكي | ōkē | all right, acceptable (loanword) |
| تمام | tamām | perfect, all right, fine |
| زين | zēn | good, fine, all right |
| ماشي | māshi | all right, it's going well |
| أوكي | ōkē | all right, fine (loanword) |
| تمام | tamām | all right, perfect |
| زين | zēn | all right, good |
| طيب | ṭayyib | all right, good (esp. Saudi) |
Iraqi Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| أوكي | ōkē | all right, acceptable (loanword) |
| ماشي | māshi | alright, fine, 'it works' |
| زين | zēn | good, fine, alright |
| تمام | tamām | perfect, great, all good |
| زين | zēn | acceptably, well |
| ماشي | māshi | all right, used to show agreement |
| أوكي | ōkē | all right (loanword) |
Maghrebi Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| لاباس | labas | all right, satisfactory |
| صافي | ṣafi | okay, fine, that's it (Moroccan) |
| باهي | bāhi | okay, good (Tunisian) |
| واخا | wākha | all right, agreed (Moroccan) |
| صافي | ṣāfi | all right, that's enough, OK (Moroccan) |
| صحة | ṣaḥḥa | OK, thanks, right (Algerian) |
| باهي | bāhi | good, all right, OK (Tunisian) |
| أوكي | ōkē | OK (pan-Maghrebi loanword) |
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