Dictionary

say-so en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈseɪˌsəʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈseɪˌsoʊ/ (General-American)

Etymology

From say + so. Compare says who.

Meanings

1. (informal) Authority, as backing some statement, injunction, or command.
   • We could only know the authors are eye witnesses by taking it on their say-so, that is, by believing them, or by believing a string of say-sos. 2007, Francesca Aran Murphy, God Is Not a Story: Realism Revisited:
   • Urban Dictionary records at least 66 of the terms found by the present research, but as this dictionary liberally accepts words, definitions, and sample sentences based solely on the say-so of contributors, in the absence of corroboration from other sources the authenticity of some entries must remain dubious. 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 2:
   • I wouldn't buy anything that expensive just on the say-so of a saleman.
   • On whose say-so?
   • the answer is that we just 'think' ourselves to Be Goodness Itself, we confer that Goodness upon ourselves by say-so, […] 1988, Boris Aldanov, The human predicament, volume 1, page 134:
   • "I guess I have gotten fed up with the government. You're only helped if you're on the good side. If you're on the bad side, then you can't have help, you've got no say-so, and you've got no rights, […]" 1999, Jack C. Doppelt, Ellen Shearer, Nonvoters: America's no-shows, page 162:
   • You are not to go into that room without my say-so.
   • At the moment, and in "an emergency", you or I could be sent to the bin, willy-nilly, on the say-so of a single doctor (who may never have seen us before, and need have no particular experience of mental illness), so long as the application is supported by one of our relatives, or by a "social worker". 1973, New Scientist, volume 58, number 852, page 822:

Forms

Relateds

sanction · blessing · placet · clearance · what someone says goes · go-ahead · warrant · imprimatur

Synonyms

leave · permission