opt

1 of 2

verb

ˈäpt 

opted; opting; opts

intransitive verb

: to make a choice

especially : to decide in favor of something

… opted for a tax increase …

—Tom Wicker

After perusing the menu he opted for the prime rib.

opt

2 of 2

abbreviation

1

optical; optician; optics

2

option; optional

Synonyms of opt

Verb

• choose
• decide
• figure

Examples of opt in a Sentence

Verb

after that near catastrophe, they opted to reinstate the telephone service

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Linehan said several factors contributed to that, including fairgoers opting for public transportation and park-and-ride or simply not paying. — Ubah Ali, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026

In fact, two members of last year’s preseason top 10 (Arch Manning and LaNorris Sellers) are back on this year’s board after opting to stay in school. — Dane Brugler, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026

In many of those states, voters who don't want to put ballots in the mail can opt to drop off absentee ballots in person at local election offices. — Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026

There are also times when Cigna will opt to work closely with AI startups that have homed in on a very specific use case, like Sierra, which builds conversational AI agents for customer service. — John Kell, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

French opter, from Latin optare

First Known Use

Verb

1853, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing opt

• co-opt
• opt in
• opt out

Rhymes for opt

• chopped
• cropped
• dropped
• dropt
• flopped
• hopped
• lopped
• mopped
• plopped
• popped
• propped
• shopped

Kids Definition

opt

verb

ˈäpt

: to make a choice

Medical Definition

opt

abbreviation

optician