Synonyms

thumbs-up

American

[thuhmz-uhp] / ˈθʌmzˈʌp /

noun

Informal.

an act, instance, or gesture of assent, approval, or the like.

thumbs up Cultural

Expressions of approval and disapproval respectively: “The two critics disagreed about the movie; one gave it thumbs up, the other thumbs down.” In the gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome, a thumbs-up gesture from the crowd meant that the loser would live; thumbs down meant death.

thumbs up Idioms

An expression of approval or hopefulness, as in The town said thumbs up on building the elderly housing project. The antonym thumbs down indicates disapproval or rejection, as in Mother gave us thumbs down on serving beer at our party. Alluding to crowd signals used in Roman amphitheaters, these idioms were first recorded in English about 1600. In ancient times the meaning of the gestures was opposite that of today. Thumbs down indicated approval; thumbs up, rejection. Exactly when the reversal occurred is not known, but the present conventions were established by the early 1900s.

Etymology

Origin of thumbs-up

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The two men posed, grinning and giving a thumbs-up, for a photo that was posted to Graham’s X account.

From Los Angeles Times

The two men were pictured giving a thumbs-up in a photo circulating on social media.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet Hall went close to a second equaliser after the interval, curling narrowly wide with an audacious effort that drew an admiring thumbs-up from Donnarumma.

From Barron's

Over his shoulder, Jonah gave him the thumbs-up signal.

From Literature

Chase’s father climbed down from the tree and gave his son a thumbs-up sign, which Chase took to mean that he could continue with his renovation and maybe, just maybe, they could put the past behind them and get on with their lives.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023