arrival
Americannoun
-
the act or time of arriving
-
a person or thing that arrives or has arrived
-
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.
See Examples For:
Letisha Lucas, a 33-year-old tourist from Canada -- which has its own wildfires happening -- said the smoke smell was immediately obvious on arrival in Madrid "and very irritating on the throat".
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
No player’s ever been this good, this deep into a career, but James’s arrival is unlikely to tilt the league’s competitive balance like it once did.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Villa head coach Unai Emery said he was "delighted" with Garnacho's arrival.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The arrival of the state-of-the-art facility and erasure of a field that featured the name of Kennedy, according to a complaint obtained by The Times, has caused him “reputational harm,” “embarrassment” and “humiliation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
We’d been so focused on our little sister’s recovery that we hadn’t given Papá a single thought since our arrival.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
"All European countries have recorded an increase in tourist arrivals, and there is no discernible trend linked to the heat," said Swedish professor Stefan Gossling, a tourism specialist.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
The winger becomes Villa's fourth signing, after the arrivals of Johan Manzambi, Joao Gomes and Modou Keba Cisse.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Lehigh Acres is booming, fueled by arrivals from Miami and elsewhere who are drawn to one of the few remaining affordable areas in the southern part of the state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Further reinforcements are sorely needed but all of the club's arrivals this summer - goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen, midfielder Sean Steur and winger Bazoumana Toure - have been aged 20 and under, and from the continent.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Like all new arrivals at a get-to-know-you reception in Vietnam, Allen was asked where he was from.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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.
