1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

green-light 1 of 2

verb

Definition of green-lightnext
as in to permit
to give permission for or to approve of as soon as the project is green-lighted, we'll schedule a planning meeting

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

green light

2 of 2

noun

as in permission
the approval by someone in authority for the doing of something we were given the green light to use the town commons for our fund-raiser

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of green-light
Noun
New legislation came into effect on September 1, after a long-running political debate and a final green light from the French parliament in June. — Helen Massy-Beresford, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2026 For Coates, who serves as Twitter’s new general counsel and previously worked in the same role during the pre-Musk era, the judge’s words were enough to serve as a green light. — Cyrus Farivar, ArsTechnica, 26 Aug. 2026 These particles efficiently scatter the blue and green light while letting red and orange wavelengths pass through, creating the uncanny feeling of an all-day sunset. — Michael A. Robinson, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026 Purple, presents a particular challenge since producing the color requires absorbing green light. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 24 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for green-light
Recent Examples of Synonyms for green-light
  1. permit
  2. permission
  3. allow
  4. authorization
  5. have
  6. consent
  7. granting
  8. sanction
Verb
  • Housing shortages sometimes happen when cities can’t issue residential building permits fast enough to keep vacancy rates low and rent high in a secondary market.
    — Justin Donald, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Paul permitted a possession-ending third down sack to All Pro Crosby early in the fourth quarter, with the Dolphins down 13.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of permit
Noun
  • With permission turned on, OlloBot says the SS1 can recognize moments such as laughter or celebrations and capture them automatically.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026
  • In 1971, for instance, eighty-six per cent of English elementary-school children had permission to walk home from school alone; that number dropped to thirty-five per cent in 1990, and to twenty-five per cent in 2010.
    — Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of permission
Verb
  • The South Korean government has launched an app which allows victims of stalking offences to be notified if their stalker comes within range.
    — Will Barker, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026
  • That additional signal could allow existing battery management systems to estimate state of charge more accurately as a battery operates.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of allow
Noun
  • The Army Corps hopes to receive congressional authorization in 2028, with the construction window estimated to begin in 2032.
    — Sarah Perkel, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Zero-trust measures can support continuous authentication and authorization for every agent action, while capabilities like policy as code can enforce deterministic execution and create machine-readable guardrails.
    — Ismail Amla, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of authorization
Verb
  • Today, 55% of the city's residents have Middle Eastern ancestry, and the mayor, police chief, and schools superintendent are all Muslims of Arab descent.
    — Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 12 Sep. 2026
  • Hong Kong once had a vibrant civil society marked by protests and a freewheeling press.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Sep. 2026
Definition of have
Noun
  • They can be legally operated only on private property with the owner’s consent.
    — Assistant Editor, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The deal still requires the European Parliament’s consent and a Court of Justice review to enter into force.
    — JONAS NAHM, Foreign Affairs, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of consent
Noun
  • Other presidential powers include the negotiation of treaties and the granting of pardons.
    — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The Department of Homeland Security has appealed the granting of his asylum.
    — Jeff Capellini, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of granting
Noun
  • Spain, which had responded to Rome's sanctions with its own border checks on people coming from Italy, also extended its tit-for-tat measures for another 15 days, the Spanish foreign ministry said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The House will vote on legislation creating new sanctions against Russia and a bill prohibiting electricity costs from new data centers from being passed along to households.
    — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of sanction

Browse Nearby Words

greenishness
green-light
green light
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Green-light.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/green-light. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of churlish

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All