Meanings
present singular third person greenlights · participle present greenlighting · participle past greenlighted · past greenlighted · participle past greenlit · past greenlit · alternative green-light
- idiomaticinformaltransitiveTo approve; to permit to proceed.
The United Kingdom (UK) is reportedly waiting for US approval before greenlighting Ukrainian forces to use UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles for long-range strikes against military targets in Russia.
2024 August 11, Riley Bailey, Christina Harward, Angelica Evans, Grace Mappes, Davit Gasparyan, Frederick W. Kagan, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 17, 2024”, in Ukraine Project, The Institute for the Study of War1 more example
Labour's Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds hit back at Sunak and said that his failure to greenlight major projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail showed that government claims of levelling up the country were "not supported by the evidence".
2020 December 2, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Sunak focuses on jobs, infrastructure and 'levelling up'”, in Rail, page 7Synonyms: allow, approve, give the go-ahead, give the green light, permit, rubber stamp, wave through
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo approve; to permit to proceed.
Origin
Translations
Finnish näyttää vihreää valoa
- näyttää vihreää valoato approve
French donner le/son feu vert pour
- donner le/son feu vert pourto approve
German grünes Licht geben, genehmigen
- grünes Licht gebento approve
- genehmigento approve
Hungarian zöld utat ad/enged
- zöld utat ad/engedto approve
Italian approvare, omologare
- approvareto approve
- omologareto approve
Portuguese dar sinal verde (o), permitir
- dar sinal verde (o)to approve
- permitirto approve
- aprovarto approve
Spanish dar luz verde a
- dar luz verde ato approve
Cite this entry
greenlight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greenlight
“greenlight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greenlight. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greenlight,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greenlight.
Source: greenlight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.