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Synonyms

arrival

American  
[uh-rahy-vuhl] / əˈraɪ vəl /

noun

  1. an act of arriving; a coming.

    His arrival was delayed by traffic.
    Synonyms:
    advent

  2. the reaching or attainment of any object or condition.

    arrival at a peace treaty.

  3. the person or thing that arrives or has arrived.

    First arrivals will be the first seated.
arrival British  
/ əˈraɪvəl /

noun

  1. the act or time of arriving

  2. a person or thing that arrives or has arrived

  3. the reaching of a condition or objective

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

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."

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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.

In February, ahead of my new baby’s arrival, I decided to conduct an experiment.

From Slate • May 10, 2026

Another important development is time-bin encoding, a technique that stores information in the arrival times of photons.

From Science Daily • May 9, 2026

It said Spirit's arrival in a market led to an immediate 17 percent drop in fares, while its exit led to an average 30 percent increase.

From Barron's • May 9, 2026

Soon after their arrival they will be repatriated, or, in the case of the 14 Spaniards aboard, taken to Madrid to be quarantined.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

Even though Leah praised her sisters in the papers as “the most perfect known mediums,” their arrival in Cleveland had caught Leah entirely by surprise.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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.