All right and alright

All right is an adjective or adverb.

All right as an adjective

We use all right as an adjective after verbs such as be, feel, seem or look, but not before a noun (predicative adjective). It means ‘well’, ‘OK’, ‘satisfactory’:

A: How are you?

B: I’m all right.

A: Is everything all right?

B: Yes, fine thanks.

Was your meal all right?

Not: Was it an all right meal?

All right may be written as alright, but all right is more common:

There was an accident and the bus driver was injured, but all the passengers were alright.

All right as an adverb

We use all right as an adverb to mean ‘well’, ‘OK’, ‘satisfactorily’:

Jill is really worried about her driving test, but I think she’s doing all right.

A: Is everything going all right for you these days?

B: Yes, business is good.