yes

Particle

yes

1. Used to show agreement or acceptance.
   • Yes, you are correct.
   • Yes, you may go play outside now.
2. Used to indicate disagreement or dissent in reply to a negative statement.
   • It was not my fault we lost the race.
     Oh, yes, it was!
3. (humorous) Answer to a question presuming one answer when all answers are correct.
   • Do you like cake, or pie?
     Yes.
   • (Countless examples can be found on the “Inclusive Or” subreddit, which is a forum dedicated to this joke.)

Interjection

1. An exclamation of pleasure or approval, usually transcribed with an exclamation point.
   • Our second goal of the match! Yes!

   Synonyms:

   affirmative, surely

   Antonyms:

   no

2. Response that confirms that the user is paying attention.
3. (interrogative) Used to ask for more information with a request.
   • I need some help.
     Yes?

Noun

yes (plural yeses or yesses)

1. An affirmative expression; an answer that shows agreement or acceptance.
   • Was that a yes?
   • Yet a woman’s “yes” would have bound him to that other life forever, and made the thought of this savage existence repulsive.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 121

   Synonyms:

   aye, yea, nod

   Antonyms:

   no, nay

2. A vote of support or in favor of something.
   • The workers voted on whether to strike, and there were thirty "yeses" and one "no".

   Synonyms:

   aye, yea

   Antonyms:

   nay, no

Verb

yes (third-person singular simple present yeses or yesses, present participle yessing, simple past and past participle yessed)

1. (colloquial, transitive) To agree with, affirm, approve.
   • Did he yes the veto?
   • "That's really what you wanted?" I yessed both; ...1972 Oct, John Barth, “Perseid”, in Harper's Magazine, page 79

   Synonyms:

   agree, consent, nod

2. (colloquial, intransitive) To say “yes”.
   • The next day another writer asked us: “Didja hear about So-and-So? Got two hundred and fifty bucks for an idea!” We “yessed” and went our way.1923 February 25, “Going Up!”, in Sunday State Journal, Lincoln, Neb., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 12—B, column 2
   • “Heaven knows why a woman ‘Noes’!” / Clarrie nodded glumly. “And why she ‘Yesses’ in the end.”1994, Malcolm Ross, “Part Three: The New Woman”, in Kernow & Daughter, London: BCA, →ISBN, page 293
3. (slang) To attempt to flatter someone by habitually agreeing

Determiner

yes

1. (humorous) There is; indicating the existence of something.
   • Have you heard this before? "Nintendo 64 has no games!" Well, I did a little researching, and here's what I found: […]1997 July 9, Marky J, “No Games? … Yes games!!”, in rec.games.video.nintendo (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025
   • [Message header:] No water... YES WATER! / We have water again!1997 December 15, =^.^=, “No water...”, in alt.home.repair (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025
2. (humorous) Indicating the possibility or allowance of something.
   • When our family left graduate school, it was in a cocoon of our own feelings, with college life behind us and the boys excitedly talking about what was “behead of us,” and our car avoiding no parking signs but aiming for “yes parking.”1973, William Stafford, “Having Become a Writer: Some Reflections”, in Northwest Review, volume XIII, Eugene, Ore.: University of Oregon, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 91
   • I lived in a no-pets apartment in a house. And my boyfriend and I broke up (that's another installment, too!), and I grabbed the dog, who was always mine, anyway. And my landlord agreed that it was a yes-pets apartment shortly afterward.2000 February 1, Fulmination, “Brier”, in rec.pets.dogs.behavior (Usenet), archived from the original on 31 Jan 2026

Proper noun capitalized: Yes

Yes

1. (plural) plural of Ye