admission
Americannoun
-
admissions
plural
-
the act of allowing to enter; entrance granted by permission, by provision or existence of pecuniary means, or by the removal of obstacles.
the admission of foreign aid workers into the zone of active conflict.
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right or permission to enter.
granting admission to the rare books room.
- Synonyms:
- access
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the price paid for entrance, as to a theater or ball park.
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an act or condition of being received or accepted in a position, profession, occupation, or office; appointment.
admission to the bar.
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confession of a charge, an error, or a crime; acknowledgment.
His admission of the theft solved the mystery.
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an acknowledgment of the truth of something.
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a point or statement admitted; concession.
noun
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permission to enter or the right, authority, etc, to enter
-
the price charged for entrance
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acceptance for a position, office, etc
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a confession, as of a crime, mistake, etc
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an acknowledgment of the truth or validity of something
Usage
What is an admission? An admission is entrance by permission or the removal of obstacles to entry, as in The admission of girls into the science program has been a long time coming. Admission is also a right or permission to enter, as in Only employees have admission to the backstage area. Admission can also be the price paid in order to enter, as at a sports or theater event. An admission can also be a confession or acknowledgement of the truth, as when you admit that you were the one who broke your mother’s favorite dish. Example: Just the first act of the play was worth the price of admission.
Synonym Usage
See entrance 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of admission
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Anglo-French and Latin admissiōn- (stem of admissiō ), equivalent to admiss-, past participial stem of the verb admittere admit + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
If you pay admission, you're paying a fee in order to attend something, like an event or a movie. After you pay admission to the movie theater, you head straight to the popcorn stand. The noun admission stems from the Latin word admissionem, meaning "a letting in." It often refers to a fee charged for entry, but it can also describe the process of being granted entry. The university's admission of the new student was welcome news — now he has access to the school's research facilities. An admission can also be a confession that something is true, such as your brother's surly admission that he was the one who popped your bike tire.
Vocabulary lists containing admission
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Education and Academics, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Overseeing an endowment of about $150.3 million, Ryan is prioritizing annual support for free admission and programming while raising endowment funds for staff positions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
In 1961, for instance, a riot erupted at the merry-go-round when police officers alleged a 17-year-old Black rider failed to pay for his admission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
“Pullbacks are the admission price for participating in longer-term market appreciation. This underscores the importance of staying aligned with the primary trend rather than short-term turbulence,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
The most selective colleges in the country typically require an SAT score of at least 1400 for admission.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
If we did fetch him, it would be an admission of guilt—that he really was an assassin working for us.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
She said her priorities were to reduce avoidable hospital admissions, including with "robust" public messaging, to ensure people were accessing the right sort of medical care.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
For three years, Sally Williams struggled to understand what was happening to her as her mental health deteriorated and her life fell apart, spending almost 11 months in hospital across eight admissions.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
He also cast doubt on Clancy's own admissions that she killed her children, in what would be a major shift from her mental health defense.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Though the state’s public universities still don’t use scores from the SAT and the similar ACT exam in admissions, they do use the exams as one factor in determining course placement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
If I felt strongly enough about Jesse’s deserving a shot— and I did—maybe such a trip would get his application a closer look or convince somebody in the admissions office that he was worth meeting.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
