arrival
Americannoun
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the act or time of arriving
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a person or thing that arrives or has arrived
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the reaching of a condition or objective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of arrival
1350–1400; arrive + -al 2; replacing Middle English arivaille < Middle French
Explanation
An arrival is an entrance or an appearance — the act of showing up somewhere. Your arrival at your grandparents' house will no doubt be marked by great enthusiasm and many hugs. The process of arriving, or first getting to your destination, is arrival. Your sister's arrival at the airport might be delayed by bad weather, and your new kitten's arrival will be an exciting event for your whole family. Another kind of arrival is a person who's just arrived: "I easily picked her out from all the bus station arrivals."
Vocabulary lists containing arrival
List 3
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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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.
But it also marked the arrival of Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve, an event that is bringing a momentous change in the way the central bank will operate.
From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026
Jackson’s lottery stoning takes place on a sunny June day, in contrast to the apocalyptic storm’s nighttime arrival on “Widow’s Bay,” forcing everyone into an underground shelter.
From Salon • Jun. 18, 2026
For others, it signals an arrival in Hollywood, a sign that they’ve finally made it in the business.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
He replaced none of the Fed’s senior staff directors on arrival, a pointed contrast with the housecleaning some had braced for.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
Three days after her arrival at Stalingrad, Lilya Litvyak had become the first woman in the world to shoot down enemy combat aircraft on her own—not one, but two in the same flight.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
