copacetic means fine, excellent, OK, in excellent order. It carries an Arena rating of 1420, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, copacetic ranks #234 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,367 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #2,287 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #3,476 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
copacetic is pronounced /kəʊ.pəˈsɛt.ɪk/.
Why “copacetic” is a great word
Completely satisfactory and in excellent order. Its origin is obscure, possibly coined by author Irving Bacheller in his 1919 novel 'A Man for the Ages', or originating in late 19th- or early 20th-century African-American speech, later popularized by entertainer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Unlike "adequate," which merely meets a baseline, or "chaotic," which is its direct antithesis, "copacetic" implies a seamless, thriving harmony. It is the silent hum of a well-tuned engine, the precise alignment of books on a shelf, and the satisfied stillness after a perfect meal—a rare, almost musical accord between expectation and reality.
Etymology
Stephen Goranson says "there is good reason to think that Irving Bacheller invented the word [with the spelling copasetic] for a fictional character with a private vocabulary in his best-selling and later-serialized 1919 book about Abraham Lincoln in Illinois, A Man for the Ages", and its currency increased by use in the 1920 song "At the New Jump Steady Ball" (see quotation below). Alternatively, it has been speculated that it may have originated among African Americans in the Southern US in the late 19th or early 20th century, perhaps specifically in the jargon of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who certainly helped popularize it in any case. Many hypotheses about its origin (etymon) exist, all lacking supporting evidence: Possible origins * That it derives from Cajun French coup esètique / c
adj
- Fine, excellent, OK, in excellent order.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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