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View synonyms for yes

yes

adverb

  1. (used to express affirmation or assent or to mark the addition of something emphasizing and amplifying a previous statement):
    Do you want that? Yes, I do.
  2. (used to express an emphatic contradiction of a previously negative statement or command):
    Don't do that! Oh, yes I will!
  3. (used, usually interrogatively, to express hesitation, uncertainty, curiosity, etc.):
    “Yes?” he said as he opened the door. That was a marvelous show! Yes?
  4. (used to express polite or minimal interest or attention.)

verb (used with object)

, yessed, yes·sing.

  1. to give an affirmative reply to; give assent or approval to.

interjection

  1. (used as a strong expression of joy, pleasure, or approval.)

/ jɛs /

sentence substitute

  1. used to express acknowledgment, affirmation, consent, agreement, or approval or to answer when one is addressed
  2. used, often with interrogative intonation, to signal someone to speak or keep speaking, enter a room, or do something

noun

  1. often plural a person who votes in the affirmative

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Word History and Origins

Origin of yes1

First recorded before

900; Middle English yes, yis, Old English gēse (adverb and noun), probably equivalent to gēa yea

+ sī “be it” (present subjunctive singular of bēon “to be”; be

)

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Word History and Origins

Origin of yes1

Old English gēse, from iā sīe may it be; see

yea

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Example Sentences

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told the outlet.

“It’s so powerful in the show when the dad just tells his son that, yes, he does get afraid,” said Hanggi.

Mr. Auld-Thomas says, “That really puts an exclamation point behind the statement that, no, we have not found everything, and yes, there’s a lot more to be discovered.”

“Arguably, yes, there might have been a need to arrest,” the detective sergeant admitted.

What the success of that strategy revealed is that we have a ton of work to do to engage — and yes, educate — these young men next time.

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What Is The Plural Of Yes?

Plural word for yes

The plural form of yes is either yeses or yesses, but yeses is more widely used. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -s are also formed the same way, such as bus/buses/busses, gas/gases/gasses, and lotus/lotuses/lotusses.

In some instances, particularly informally, the plural form of yes is written with an apostrophe, as in yes’s. This is not considered standard, but it may be easier to understand in some contexts because many people are unfamiliar with the plural form of yes.

The word yes is only pluralized when it is used as a noun rather than in its more common use as an adverb. The word yes as a noun means “an answer or vote of _yes_” or “a person who votes in the affirmative,” as in The noes outnumbered the yeses.