admission
Americannoun
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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.
-
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
-
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:
The 78% acceptance rate reflects the percentage of California residents who applied for first-year admission and were admitted to any of the nine campuses, not necessarily their first choice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
But they’re free to refuse admission to students for a range of other reasons.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
They were put back on sale as general admission tickets, increasing the number available for genuine fans.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The department said its analysis of the school’s data showed the admission rate for Black applicants was more than double the rate for white applicants in three straight years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
And ultimately, I suppose that I did show that college counselor, because six or seven months later, a letter arrived in our mailbox on Euclid Avenue, offering me admission to Princeton.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
My parents couldn’t afford private school, so I took the admissions test for Stuyvesant, one of the city’s finest public high schools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The justices held that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibited the Virginia Military Institute, a public college, from limiting admissions to men.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Most take between 20 and 30, according to UC’s admissions officials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The admissions group that will lead it, the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools, will consult with representatives of the state Board of Education and K-12 subject specialists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
By noon the chief of admissions, Horace Tucker, wired a message to fair headquarters, “The Paris record is broken to smithereens, and the people are still coming.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
