‘Copacetic’ is an underutilized word.  How many people could even spell it if they were accosted on the street and given this task?  For myself, I have taken to using it fairly often, and so I am an advocate and an ambassador for the adjective ‘copacetic.’

In general, ‘copacetic’ means that all is well, that there is a peaceful state of affairs.  I would go even further and suggest connotatively that when we say that a situation or a relationship is copacetic, it implies that there is some question that it could have been otherwise; in other words, that one might have expected a situation not to be tranquil.  But in the end, everything is all good, it’s copacetic.  

This definition comports with what one finds in online dictionaries.  Here is an example sentence from vocabulary.com: 

“his smile said that everything was copacetic”

In this scenario, the speaker/narrator was anxious that everything was not ok, but when she saw that smile, she was relieved—everything was copacetic. 

Copacetic works particularly well in a work or professional environment.  It tends to be more specific than just, “Everything is good.”  If your boss inquires about a project, you can respond: 

“Everything is copacetic with the new account.”  

Or: 

“While we had some concerns about sales, reviewing the data, all is copacetic.” 

The Merriam-Webster entry for copacetic is surprisingly sparse, and even allows for variant spellings of the mysterious adjective: 

“Very satisfactory.”  While certainly “satisfactory” is a synonym for “copacetic,” they are not necessarily interchangeable.  You wouldn’t really say that your stay at a hotel was “copacetic,” while you might say that the supply chains keeping the hotel stocked with towels and soap are copacetic.  Copacetic tends to be used in a business or formal capacity. 

Even the origins of the word are mysterious, with some dictionaries claiming that it derives from American blacks.  From vocabulary.com: 

“Its origins are unknown, but it's thought that it started in the 19th century in casual southern African American speech.”

Now this is just speculation, but if the term derives from African American slang, perhaps it has something to do with “cope,” like “I can cope with this situation; it is copacetic.” In that case it would be literally a made-up word.  But even so, it is now quite official!

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