right

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north,…

   Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north, the side on which the heart is not located in most humans. This arrow points to the reader's right: →

   • Near-synonym: starboard
   • After the accident, her right leg was slightly shorter than her left.
2. 2

   Clockwise, particularly when describing a change in direction or orientation.

   • The road up ahead contains a right bend.
   • Rotate the bolt to the right to tighten it.
3. 3

   Complying with justice, correctness, or reason

   Complying with justice, correctness, or reason; correct, just, true. See also the interjection senses below.

   • That's not the right thing to do.
   • So I was right all along? C'mon. I want to hear you say it.
   • If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is certainly right, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."
4. ›+ 37 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Appropriate, perfectly suitable

      Appropriate, perfectly suitable; fit for purpose.

      • Is this the right software for my computer?
   2. 5

      Healthy, sane, competent.

      • I'm afraid my father is no longer in his right mind.
      • “If I didn’t know the dear old fellow so well by now,” Tennington remarked to Miss Strong, “I should be quite certain that he was—er—not quite right, don’t you know.”
   3. 6

      Real

      Real; veritable (used emphatically).

      • You've made a right mess of the kitchen!
      • He's got a wicked sense of fun, he can be a right laugh, he's ever so broadminded – ooh, and he's got a lovely broad chest too.
      • […]in this battle and whole business the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians: no rule, no foresight, no forecast, experience, or estimation
   4. 7

      Of an angle, measuring 90 degrees, or one quarter of a complete rotation

      Of an angle, measuring 90 degrees, or one quarter of a complete rotation; the angle between two perpendicular lines.

      • The kitchen counter formed a right angle with the back wall.
   5. 8

      Of a geometric figure, incorporating a right angle between edges, faces, axes, etc.

      • a right triangle   a right prism   a right cone
   6. 9

      Designating the bank of a river (etc.) on one's right when facing downstream (i.e. facing…

      Designating the bank of a river (etc.) on one's right when facing downstream (i.e. facing forward while floating with the current); that is, the south bank of a river that flows eastward. If this arrow: ⥴ shows the direction of the current, the tilde is on the right side of the river.

      • The Louvre Museum is on the right bank of the Seine.
   7. 10

      Designed to be placed or worn outward.

      • the right side of a piece of cloth   Begin this stitch on the right side.
   8. 11

      Pertaining to the political right

      Pertaining to the political right; conservative.

   9. 12

      All right

      All right; not requiring assistance.

      • Kirsty: I suppose you're hungry. Would you like something to eat? Ken: No. I'm right, thanks.
      • When the sales assistant sees the customer, she asks Are you right, sir? This means Are you all right? She wants to know if he needs any help.
      • 'You lost?' Colin spun round. Looking at him was a nurse, her eyebrows raised. / 'No, I'm right, thanks,' said Colin.'
   10. 13

       Most favourable or convenient

       Most favourable or convenient; fortunate.

       • The lady has been disappointed on the right side.
   11. 14

       Straight, not bent.

       • a right line
   12. 15

       Of or relating to the right whale.

       • In the course of the day we saw several large whales of the right species, and innumerable flights of the albatross passed over the vessel.
   13. 16

       On the right side.

   14. 17

       Towards the right side.

   15. 18

       Exactly, precisely.

       • The arrow landed right in the middle of the target.
       • Luckily we arrived right at the start of the film.
   16. 19

       Immediately, directly.

       • Can't you see it? It's right beside you!
       • Tom was standing right in front of the TV, blocking everyone's view.
       • You come right home this instant!
   17. 20

       Very, extremely, quite.

       • I made a right stupid mistake there, didn't I?
       • I stubbed my toe a week ago and it still hurts right much.
       • a right godly treatise
   18. 21

       According to fact or truth

       According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really.

   19. 22

       In a correct manner.

       • Do it right or don't do it at all.
       • Nothing is going right for me lately.
   20. 23

       Yes, that is correct

       Yes, that is correct; I agree.

       • Tell her you’re here. Right. Thanks, Pete.
       • — United's the best team in the country. — Right. And they'll go all the way for sure. — Damn right they will.
   21. 24

       I have listened to what you just said and I acknowledge your assertion or opinion,…

       I have listened to what you just said and I acknowledge your assertion or opinion, regardless of whether I agree with it (opinion) or can verify it (assertion).

       • — United's the best team in the country, so they'll come up with something. — Right. And do you think they'll go all the way?
   22. 25

       Signpost word to change the subject in a discussion or discourse.

       • — After that interview, I don't think we should hire her. — Right. Who wants lunch?
   23. 26

       Used to check listener engagement and (especially) agreement at the end of an utterance…

       Used to check listener engagement and (especially) agreement at the end of an utterance or each segment thereof.

       • You're going, right?
       • I went downstairs, right, and I was going to call her, but I found this note, right, so what am I supposed to do now?
   24. 27

       Used to add seriousness or decisiveness before a statement.

       • Withnail: Right […] I'm gonna do the washing up.
   25. 28

       That which complies with justice, law or reason.

       • We're on the side of right in this contest.
   26. 29

       A legal, just or moral entitlement.

       • You have no right to go through my personal diary.
       • There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties.
   27. 30

       The right side or direction.

       • The pharmacy is just on the right past the bookshop.
   28. 31

       The right hand or fist.

       • "Before he could strike again, however, I got in my right, and he was sprawling on his back on the floor."
       • Mr. Carrados smiled a good-humoured tolerance of the imbroglio in which they had both landed, leaned back in his chair and dropped a careless right into his coat pocket.
   29. 32

       The authority to perform, publish, film, or televise a particular work, event, etc.

       The authority to perform, publish, film, or televise a particular work, event, etc.; a copyright.

   30. 33

       The ensemble of right-wing political parties

       The ensemble of right-wing political parties; political conservatives as a group.

       • The political right holds too much power.
       • Sunak seems so scared of his party's swivel-eyed right wing that he has been panicked into focusing all new legislation on perceived 'red meat' issues which he hopes the Tory right will support.
   31. 34

       The outward or most finished surface, as of a coin, piece of cloth, a carpet, etc.

       • Simple cross-stitch, with a space between each stitch, may be worked in two rows, in which case the completed stitch on the wrong sides alternates with that on the right.
       • For the large size, two pieces of silk, eighteen inches wide and twenty-seven inches long, are sewed together at three sides, rights together, leaving one end open.
       • In case there is a right and wrong side to the tops, put two rights together.
   32. 35

       A wave breaking from right to left (viewed from the shore).

   33. 36

       To correct.

       • Righting all the wrongs of the war immediately will be impossible.
   34. 37

       To set upright.

       • The tow-truck righted what was left of the automobile.
   35. 38

       To return to normal upright position.

       • When the wind died down, the ship righted.
   36. 39

       To do justice to

       To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights to; to assert or regain the rights of.

       • to right the oppressed
       • So just is God, to right the innocent.
       • All experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
   37. 40

       The political right wing seen as a whole, as distinguished from an individual right-wing…

       The political right wing seen as a whole, as distinguished from an individual right-wing political party.

       • Many earnest consumers on the Right feel so legitimately embattled by the nonstop streaming feed of hate speech and psyoppery directed at them that they think they have no choice but to reconfigure their artistic sensibilities accordingly.

The neighborhood

• synonymjust
• synonymprecisely
• synonymsmack-dab
• synonymexactly
• synonymvery
• synonymin truth
• synonymactually
• synonymever sovery, extremely
• antonymdutyantonym(s) of “legal or moral entitlement”
• antonymobligationantonym(s) of “legal or moral entitlement”
• antonymLeft
• neighbordownright
• neighborforthright
• neighboroutright
• neighborupright