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Synonyms

congé

American  
[kon-zhey, -jey, kawn-zhey] / ˈkɒn ʒeɪ, -dʒeɪ, kɔ̃ˈʒeɪ /

noun

plural

congés

  1. leave-taking; farewell.

  2. permission to depart.

  3. sudden dismissal.

  4. a bow or obeisance.

  5. Architecture. a concave molding, as an apophyge, formed by a quadrant curving away from a given surface and terminating perpendicular to a fillet parallel to that surface.

congé British  
/ ˈkɒnʒeɪ /

noun

  1. permission to depart or dismissal, esp when formal

  2. a farewell

  3. architect a concave moulding See also cavetto

"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

Etymology

Origin of congé

From French, dating back to 1695–1705; congee

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.

Left to herself, she would make light of such a suitor, and give him his congé with a brusque promptitude.

From The Wild Huntress Love in the Wilderness by Reid, Mayne

Poor girl; I pitied her from the bottom of my heart, and went straight back to my place to give the little godmother her congé.

From Humorous Readings and Recitations In prose and verse by Various

Direct nomination by the crown was substituted for the congé d'élire, and remained the practice till the reaction under Mary, when the indefinite system was resumed which had existed before the Reformation.

From History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II. by Froude, James Anthony

He conceived it a possibility that his congé might have been more kindly given him, but ... he had received it, and he was not slow to recognize it as absolute and without appeal.

From The Destroying Angel by Vance, Louis Joseph

I was so sure of my dismissal, that when I returned to the house from the shore I expected some sort of lettre de congé; but I found nothing.

From The High Heart by King, Basil

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.