Word
nope
US/ˈnoʊp/
UK/nˈəʊp/
Definition
interj. a casual way to say no. You use it when you want to sound relaxed or a bit funny with friends.
interj. an informal or emphatic variant of 'no' used to express negation or refusal. Often used as a complete sentence in casual spoken discourse.
Examples
“Did you finish your homework? Nope.”
“I asked if they wanted to go for a run in the rain, but they just said 'nope' and stayed on the sofa.”
“While a simple 'no' might suffice in most professional settings, 'nope' carries a colloquial finality that signals a relaxed relationship between the speakers.”
Examples
simple
“Did you finish your homework? Nope.”
contextual
“I asked if they wanted to go for a run in the rain, but they just said 'nope' and stayed on the sofa.”
complex
“While a simple 'no' might suffice in most professional settings, 'nope' carries a colloquial finality that signals a relaxed relationship between the speakers.”
Usage
Functions as a standalone negative response; generally considered too informal for academic or professional writing.
Etymology
Representing no pronounced with the mouth snapped closed at the end. Luick instead claims it represents a realisation of no with final [ʔ], with a purported reduction of /p/ to [ʔ] in before syllabic liquids providing a model for the spelling of [ʔ] as -pe, but it is more parsimonious to assume that the -pe directly represents attested realisations with [p̚]. Compare yep, welp, ope, and yup.
Probably a rebracketing of an ope (see 1823 quote), from alp (“bullfinch”).
Possibly influenced by nape and knap.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/nope