open – English adjective declension

English adjective forms of open

Adjective: open

Comparison Forms

Synthetic

Comparativeopener
Superlativeopenest

Perifrastic

Comparativemore open
Superlativemost open

Sample Sentences

  • Come in – the door's open.
  • The ice has cleared and the channel is open again.
  • she had heard stories about him, flutters of talk through open doors. [2025, Megan Hunter, Days of Light, Grove Atlantic:]
  • The jewellery box was lying open.
  • Don't just stand there with your mouth open!
  • Along the street ran an open sewer.
  • She greeted them with open arms.
  • The book was open at page 23.
  • an open hand; an open flower; an open (loosely woven) fabric
  • Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight. [1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:]
  • When the top sheet, blanket, and bedspread of a closed bed are turned back, or fanfolded, the closed bed becomes an open bed, or a bed ready to receive a patient or resident. [2005, Pamela J. Carter, Susan Lewsen, Lippincott's Textbook for Nursing Assistants, page 277:]
  • It was a large, open room.
  • Most of the site was occupied by huts, but there was an open area in the centre.
  • Soon we left the forest behind and we were out in open country.
  • The open road, the dusty highway[…] [1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:]
  • an open fracture
  • open sandwich
  • Starry food is fun to make. You can buy bright yellow American mustard (which isn’t too strong!) in squeezy bottles and pipe stars on to hot dogs and open burgers or sandwiches. [2001, Jennie Walters, Caz’s Birthday Blues (Party Girls), London: Hodder Children’s Books, →ISBN:]
  • When the burgers are ready, place them on the toasted rolls with the romaine lettuce leaves and top with the salsa. Serve as open burgers. [2012, Jo McAuley, “[Meat and Poultry] Turkey Burgers with Spicy Salsa”, in Hamlyn QuickCook: Low Fat, London: Hamlyn, →ISBN, page 152:]
  • Sunday morning in Wellow and we feast on open bagels with grilled ham, tomato and Swiss cheese, requested and highly praised. [2015, Michael Robotham, chapter 17, in Close Your Eyes, London: Sphere, →ISBN, page 133:]
  • an open winter
  • He desires me to tell you that the present open weather induces him to accept Mr Vernon's invitation to prolong his stay in Sussex that they may have some hunting together. [c. 1794, Jane Austen, Lady Susan:]
  • Your bank account is now open.
  • Phone lines open at 10 pm.
  • This is the only option open to us.
  • Banks are not open on bank holidays.
  • I hereby declare this fete open.
  • The school has an open day on Saturday.
  • I am open to new ideas.
  • Wherefore if Demetrius […] have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies. [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 19:38:]
  • A U.K. survey found attitudes toward public transit had been set back by two decades, with only 43% of drivers open to using their car less, even if public transport improves. [2021 April 2, Ciara Nugent, “Can Public Transit Survive the Pandemic? London's New Transport Commissioner Wants You to Believe It Can”, in Time, archived from the original on 03 Apr 2021:]
  • open to question; open to attack; open to criticism
  • The service that I truly did his life, / Hath left me open to all injuries. [c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:]
  • I couldn't save my changes because another user had the same file open.
  • You're getting short of memory because you have too many apps open.
  • The U.S. recognizes Canadian sovereignty over the islands bordering the passage but insists that the passage itself is an international waterway open to ships of all nations. [1990 August, John Bockstoce, “Changing Images of the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, page 22:]
  • It is a blatant example of open criminality.
  • His thefts were too open. [c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:]
  • That I may find him, and with secret gaze / Or open admiration him behold. [1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:]
  • Nowadays people are more open about their sexuality.
  • 1731-1735, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays
  • with aspect open, shall erect his head
  • The Moor is of a free and open nature. [c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:]
  • The French are always open, familiar, and talkative. [1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:]
  • Due to severe and pervasive discrimination, people dared not be open about their homosexuality, and because no one would be open, social prejudice and discrimination became even stronger. [2001, Xiaopei He, “Chinese Queer (Tongzhi) Women Organizing in the 1990s”, in Ping-Chun Hsiung, Maria Jaschok, Cecilia Milwertz, Red Chan, editors, Chinese Women Organizing: Cadres, Feminists, Muslims, Queers, Berg, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 41:]
  • He published an open letter to the governor on a full page of The New York Times.
  • You will observe that this is an open letter and we reserve the right to mention it to the judge should the matter come to trial.
  • We hope that all aspects of the project will be open rather than paywalled.
  • Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete. [2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:]
  • Compared to their last match, which was a dour and defensive affair, this was a very open game.
  • an open question
  • to keep an offer or opportunity open
  • I've got open orders for as many containers of red durum as you can get me.
  • an open curve, an open circuit
  • "Supposing somebody sees you, with all those flowers too? Supposing somebody writes him a letter? Ooooh!" (a pure round open Tamil O.) [1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 421:]

Adjectives inflected like open

wholsom, seldom, scared, solemn, silent, beloved, uptight, perfect, useless, up-tight, selfish, distinct, discreet, Dutch, reckless, bumfuck, worthless, slender, faithfull, shallow, etc. (List truncated at 20 adjectives)

Etymology

1. Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
2. Cognates
3. * Scots apen (“open”)
4. * Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
5. * West Frisian iepen (“open”)
6. * Cimbrian offe (“open”)
7. * Dutch open (“open”)
8. * German offen (“open”)
9. * Vilamovian ufa, uffa (“open”)
10. * Yiddish אָפֿן (ofn, “open”)
11. * Danish åben (“open”)
12. * Icelandic opinn (“open”)
13. * Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
14. * Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
15. * Swedish öppen (“open”)
16. Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.
17. Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.
18. Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”. See: Dutch Adjectives 'open', German Adjectives 'offen', Swedish Adjectives 'öppen', Latin Adjectives 'supinus'.

Verbs referencing "open"

German Adjectives offen.