right

RYT/ˈɹaɪt/

Noun pluralrights

33 meanings of right

1
correctadjective
Complying with justice, correctness or reason; correct, just or true.
You were right to refuse.
Is this the right answer?
UsageOften be right to + verb: you were right to refuse; also the right thing to do.
Similarcorrect, just
Oppositewrong, incorrect, unjust
Note
Two ideas share the word, correct (the right answer) and just (the right thing to do). Wrong answers both at once, while incorrect and unjust split the opposites between them.
2
describing sideadjective
On or toward the side of the body that is to the east when one faces north, as in the right hand or a right turn.
The door is on the right side of the hall.
He writes with his right hand.
Oppositeleft
Note
This side has a learned vocabulary of its own. Dexter and dextral are its formal partners, sinister and sinistral their mirror images, and right-hand is the everyday form before a noun, as in the right-hand drawer. The nearest seafaring word is starboard, but that one belongs to ships and their crews rather than to anyone's body. A river's right bank is the one on your right as you face downstream.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Starboard identifies a fixed side of a ship rather than a side determined by a person's orientation. oceanservice.noaa.gov
A river's right bank is identified by facing downstream. water.usgs.gov
3
entitlementnouncountable
Something a person is entitled to have or do, whether under the law or on grounds of fairness or morality.
Workers won the right to strike.
The new law protects the right of tenants to stay in their homes.
UsageOften the right to + verb or noun: the right to vote, the right to privacy. Common plural phrases include fishing rights.
Similarentitlement, prerogative, privilege, freedom, liberty
Note
It pairs naturally with duties, as Coleridge insisted in his Table Talk.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Coleridge insisted in his Table Talk that rights have corresponding duties. gutenberg.org
4
adverb
Immediately or directly.
I'll be right back.
Call me right after the interview and tell me how it went.
UsageCommon with movement and commands: right back, right away, right after lunch.
Similardirectly, immediately, straight, just
Note
Here the word means "without delay or detour": come right home, I'll be right back. With phrases of place, such as right beside you or right in front of the TV, it shades into the "exactly" sense, and the two are hard to separate.
5
adjective
Suited to the purpose or occasion in every way; fitting or proper.
She said the right thing at the right time.
Is this the right bus for the station?
UsageUsually the right + noun: the right bus, the right time.
Similarappropriate, suitable, correct, proper, fitting
Oppositewrong
6
adverb
Exactly or precisely.
The clock stopped right at midnight.
The bus stops right outside our front door every morning.
UsageComes before a place or time word: right here, right at midnight, right where I left it.
Similarexactly, precisely, squarely
Note
It adds sharpness rather than meaning. Drop it and the sentence stays correct but sounds vaguer.
7
noun
The side or direction opposite to the left.
From the right came the sound of drums.
Americans drive on the right.
UsageCommon patterns are on the right, to the right, and from the right; also on your right, to my right.
Oppositeleft
8
adverb
On or toward the right side.
Turn right at the second traffic light and the station is on your left.
Keep right, pass left, the sign said.
UsageNo preposition needed: turn right (not ~~incorrect: turn to right~~), keep right.
Oppositeleft
9
check agreementinterjection
Used at the end of a statement, or of each part of one, to check that the listener is following and especially agreeing.
We said eight o'clock, right?
So she tells me, right, that she never got the letter.
UsageUsually said with a rising tone: We said eight, right?
SimilarOK, yeah
Note
At the end of a question it asks for confirmation (you're going, right?). In the middle of a story it checks that the listener is still following (I went downstairs, right, and…).
10
correctlyadverb
In a correct manner.
Did I spell your name right?
The engine isn't running right.
UsageGoes after the verb or its object: spell my name right, do it right.
Similarcorrectly, properly, accurately, well
Oppositewrong, incorrectly
Note
It looks like the adjective, but it is not a clipped rightly. Old English already had an adverb rihte, meaning "rightly" and "directly", and this is its descendant.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The adverb right descends from Old English rihte, meaning 'rightly' and 'directly', rather than being a clipping of rightly. en.wiktionary.org
11
publishing permissionnouncountable
The authorization needed to publish, stage, broadcast, or film a given work or event; a copyright.
Translation rights were sold in twelve countries.
The theater company finally secured the right to stage the musical next spring.
UsageOften in the form rights: translation rights, film rights.
Similarcopyright, license
12
conservativeadjective
Belonging to or associated with the conservative side of politics.
On immigration the party is now further right than at any time since the war.
Suburban voters saw the new candidate as too far right for their taste.
UsageCompares like a direction: further right, farther right, furthest right; often in too far right.
Similarconservative, right-wing
Oppositeliberal, left-wing, left

Less common meanings

13
saying yesinterjection
Used to say yes, to agree or confirm that something is correct, or simply to show that one has heard what was said.
Right, that's what I thought.
"You're Anna's brother, aren't you?" "Right, we met at her wedding."
UsageCan stand alone or start a reply; damn right makes it stronger.
Similaryes, correct, exactly, OK, sure
Oppositeno
Note
Said briskly after an instruction (tell her you're here — right), it means "understood" as much as "correct". Only tone and context show whether the speaker agrees or is simply showing that they heard.
14
conservativesnoun
Conservative political parties, or political conservatives as a group.
The right split over the budget.
Both the left and the right claimed the victory.
UsageTakes the: the right, the political right; the opposite is the left.
Oppositeleft
Note
The compound right wing does the same work and can mark a faction inside a single party, as in a 2023 comment on Sunak's "swivel-eyed right wing". The name dates from the French Revolution, when supporters of the monarchy sat to the right of the presiding officer in the National Assembly.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
A 2023 comment referred to the 'swivel-eyed right wing' of Sunak's party; Wiktionary attributes it to Nigel Harris in RAIL, 31 May 2023. en.wiktionary.org
The political designation 'right' originated during the French Revolution, from supporters of the monarchy sitting to the National Assembly president's right. en.wikipedia.org
15
noununcountable
What is just, lawful, or reasonable, as opposed to what is wrong.
Children learn right from wrong at home.
Might does not make right.
UsageUsually no article, paired with its opposite: know right from wrong, right and wrong.
Similarjustice, good, righteousness, fairness
Oppositewrong, injustice, evil
Note
With the article it turns oratorical, as in a 1973 address by Chiang Kai-shek praising those who adhere "to the right against the wrong".
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Chiang Kai-shek issued the quoted address in 1973; it was a message read at a Captive Nations Week rally. govinfo.gov
The message praises people for adhering “to the right against the wrong,” using those exact words. govinfo.gov
16
90 degreesadjective
In geometry, forming an angle of 90 degrees, or of a figure or solid, containing such an angle or having its axis at 90 degrees to its base.
A square has four right angles.
Check that the corner is a true right angle.
Note
In geometry the adjective is best known from the phrase right angle. A square's corners and a builder's set square are made to it. The word's old meaning of "straight" or "upright", from a root meaning "to straighten", still shows here, since a line standing upright on another makes this angle.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
A square's corners are right angles. en.wikipedia.org
A set square provides a right angle. en.wikipedia.org
Right historically meant straight. en.wiktionary.org
Right derives ultimately from a root meaning to straighten. en.wiktionary.org
The geometrical sense connects uprightness with a vertical line perpendicular to a horizontal baseline. en.wikipedia.org
17
adverbdialectalUKUS
To a high degree, much as very is used, especially before an adjective.
She was right proud of her prize-winning tomatoes.
We were right glad of the fire after the long walk home.
UsageComes before an adjective, right glad, and survives in titles: the Right Honourable.
Similarvery, really
Note
An intensifier still heard in regional speech, in the north of England and the southern United States for example, where right glad or right pleased simply means very glad or very pleased. It survives formally in titles of honor: members of the Privy Council are styled the Right Honourable, and some senior clergy the Right Reverend.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Members of the Privy Council are entitled to the style Right Honourable. parliament.uk
Some senior clergy, including bishops, are styled Right Reverend. churchinwales.org.uk
18
healthyadjective
In good health, sane or competent.
She was not quite right after the fever.
Give him a day and he'll be right again.
UsageMostly negative or fixed: not quite right, in your right mind, not right in the head.
Similarwell, fine, healthy, sane
Oppositeunwell, ill
Note
The negative is the polite way to voice doubts about someone's sanity. Burroughs, in The Return of Tarzan (1915), has a speaker trail off into "not quite right, don't you know" rather than say anything harsher.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote The Return of Tarzan. gutenberg.net.au
A fictional speaker uses the exact words “not quite right, don't you know” as a hesitant comment about someone's sanity. gutenberg.org
19
interjection
Used at the start of a remark to get attention, show that one is ready to act, or move on to a new subject.
Right, that's it, I'm leaving.
Right, here we go.
UsageFollowed by a comma, a full stop or a short pause: Right, let's begin.
SimilarOK, well, now, so
Note
In the film Withnail and I, Withnail announces that he will do the washing up in exactly this way. The same word also signals a move to a new subject, as when a teacher says right and starts the next topic.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
In Withnail and I, Withnail begins his announcement that he will do the washing up with ‘Right’. en.wikiquote.org
20
adverb
In truth or in actual fact; genuinely.
It's a long drive, all right, but the view is worth it.
I can't right say where he went after the fair.
Similarreally, truly
21
nouncountable
The right hand or fist.
He leads with his left and finishes with his right.
Her right is stronger than her left.
Oppositeleft
Note
In fights this noun means a punch as much as a hand. Stoker's narrator in Dracula "got in my right" in 1897 and left his attacker sprawling.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. en.wikipedia.org
The narrator of this passage, Dr. Seward, uses the exact words ‘got in my right’ and knocks his attacker sprawling. gutenberg.org
Dracula was first published in 1897. en.wikipedia.org
22
fix a wrongverbtransitive
To correct something that is wrong or unjust, or to give justice to someone who has been wronged.
The court was asked to right an old injustice.
The mistake was righted in the next edition.
UsageThe object is usually a wrong: right a wrong, right an injustice.
Similarcorrect, rectify, redress, remedy, fix
Note
The verb goes back to Old English rihtan, "to straighten, judge, set upright, set right", so correcting is pictured as straightening what was bent. The literal setting upright comes from the same verb.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The verb descends from Old English rihtan, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
The Old English verb connects correction with straightening. en.wiktionary.org
The literal sense of setting upright belongs to the same inherited verb. en.wiktionary.org
23
stand back upverbtransitive
To bring something back to an upright position, or to return to an upright position by itself.
It took four of us to right the wardrobe.
The capsized canoe was righted in seconds.
Oppositeupset, overturn, capsize, topple
24
adjectivecolloquialUK
Real or veritable, used for emphasis.
She's a right pain when she's tired.
That was a right waste of an afternoon.
UsageUsed before a noun: a right mess, a right laugh, some right idiots.
Similarreal, proper, complete, total, utter
Note
An intensifier dressed as an adjective: it sits between a and a noun and turns up the noun's force, as in a right mess, a right laugh, a right pain. The construction is not new. Milton calls the ancient Britons right barbarians in 1670, and a modern novel calls a cheerful man a right laugh.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Milton describes the ancient Britons as right barbarians. en.wiktionary.org
The Milton example comes from a work published in 1670. christs.cam.ac.uk
A novel describes a fun-loving man as a right laugh. en.wiktionary.org
25
front of fabricadjective
Meant to face outward when placed or worn, as the finished side of a fabric is.
Pin the two panels with their right sides together before stitching the seam.
Iron the shirt on the inside so the right side keeps its sheen.
UsagePaired with wrong side: pin pieces right sides together.
Oppositewrong
Note
Sewing and needlework rely on it, usually paired with its opposite: cloth has a right side and a wrong side, the finished face and the back.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
In sewing, the right side is the face intended to show in the finished article. oliverands.com
The wrong side is the face intended to be inside the finished article. files.eric.ed.gov
26
adverb
Completely, all the way to the farthest end, edge, or limit of something, typically before through, across, or up to.
The new trail runs right across the state, from the river to the mountains.
She worked right up to the day before her baby was born.
Similarclear
Note
The old idea of straight shows through: Old English rihte also meant directly.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Old English rihte had the meanings 'straight' and 'directly'. en.wiktionary.org
27
adjectiveAustralia
Doing fine and not in need of any help, as in a polite answer to an offer of assistance.
"Want me to grab you a coffee while I'm out?" "Nah, I'm right, mate."
A staff member wandered over and asked whether we were right or needed help finding anything.
UsageUsually I'm right to turn down help, and Are you right? to offer it.
SimilarOK
Note
Australians use it to wave off help politely, and a visitor can easily mishear it as a claim to be correct. In Morris Gleitzman's Two Weeks with the Queen, Colin answers a nurse's "You lost?" with "No, I'm right, thanks." It means what all right or OK would mean in the same spot.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Morris Gleitzman wrote Two Weeks with the Queen. morrisgleitzman.com
Colin answers a nurse's question “You lost?” with “No, I'm right, thanks.” en.wiktionary.org
28
adjective
Of a river bank, lying on the side to a person's right as they look downstream, in the direction the water flows.
29
adjectivedated
Best suited or most convenient, lucky.
The lady has been disappointed on the right side.
c. 1707, “Joseph Addison”, in The Tatler
30
adjectivearchaic
Not curved or crooked, as in a straight line.
31
adjective
Having to do with right whales, a group of large baleen whales.
32
noun
The front or finished face of something such as a coin, fabric, or carpet, meant to be seen.
33
noun
In surfing, a wave whose break travels to the surfer's right, which looks like right to left from the beach.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of right apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2, 5, 12, 16, 18, 24–25, 27

From Middle English right, from Old English riht, reht, which meant 'right' as well as 'straight' and 'direct'. It comes from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz and ultimately the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃reǵ- ('to straighten, direct'), and is related to Dutch recht, German recht, and Latin rēctus.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

English right comes from Middle English right. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English right comes from Old English riht and reht. en.wiktionary.org
The Old English word meant right, straight and direct. en.wiktionary.org
The word descends from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz. en.wiktionary.org
Its ultimate root is Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-, meaning to straighten or direct. en.wiktionary.org
Right is related to Dutch recht and German recht. en.wiktionary.org
Right is related to Latin rēctus. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 4, 6, 8–10, 13, 17, 19–20, 26

Proto-Germanic *rehtaz ('right, straight') gave *rehta, which became Old English rihte, rehte, with senses such as 'right', 'rightly', 'due', 'directly', and 'straight'. That form led to Middle English right.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Proto-Germanic *rehtaz meant 'right, straight' and gave rise to *rehta. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *rehta became Old English rihte, rehte, with the listed senses. en.wiktionary.org
The Old English adverb developed into Middle English right. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 3, 7, 11, 14–15, 21

The Proto-Indo-European root *h₃reǵ- ('to straighten, direct') led to Proto-Germanic *rehtą ('a right') and then to Old English riht, reht, ġeriht, meaning what is right, just, or proper, which became Middle English right. Dutch recht and German Recht ('a right') are related.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

The Proto-Indo-European root *h₃reǵ- meant ‘to straighten, direct’. en.wiktionary.org
This root ultimately led to Proto-Germanic *rehtą, meaning ‘a right’. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *rehtą led to Old English riht and reht, which developed into Middle English right. en.wiktionary.org
Old English ġeriht also meant that which is right, just, or proper. en.wiktionary.org
Dutch recht and German Recht are cognates of English right. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 22–23

Proto-Germanic *rihtijaną ('to straighten, rectify, judge') gave Old English rihtan, ġerihtan, which meant to straighten, judge, set upright, or set right. These became the Middle English verb righten.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Proto-Germanic *rihtijaną meant 'to straighten, rectify, judge' and was ancestral to Old English rihtan, ġerihtan. en.wiktionary.org
The Old English verbs meant to straighten, judge, set upright, or set right. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English righten descended from these Old English verbs. en.wiktionary.org