dismissal
Americannoun
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dismissals
plural
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an act or instance of dismissing.
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the state of being dismissed.
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a spoken or written order of discharge from employment, service, enrollment, etc.
noun
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an official notice of discharge from employment or service
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the act of dismissing or the condition of being dismissed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dismissal
Explanation
The act of sending someone away or firing them is dismissal. Your friend's dismissal from the pizza place where he kept dropping the dough on the floor means he's looking for a new job — preferably not in food service. When a school bell rings at the end of the day, signaling that students can leave, that's one kind of dismissal. Bad news from a boss that the company is laying you off is also a dismissal, and when a judge rules that a trial is over and the case has been dropped, it's yet another kind of dismissal. The word comes from dismiss, "send away," from the Latin root dimittere, "send different ways" or "break up."
Vocabulary lists containing dismissal
List 3
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List 6
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Legal Lingo, List 3
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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:
Worse, though, was the dismissal of Bedingham, who showed he had not learned from the first innings.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Dulkay aims for a forensic dismissal of Russia’s claims—and a measure of justice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Following Friday’s dismissal, Gilbert shared a news report about the ruling on social media, signaling her continued support.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Circuit Court of Appeals, but in April 2025, a divided three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal, agreeing with the district court that Salazar’s newsletter subscription didn’t make him a subscriber under the law.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026
Then he pushed back his chair and left the office without waiting for the teacher’s dismissal.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
The researchers also urged the company to keep its promise to permanently host independent auditors, saying they feared their dismissals "may be used to justify ending" that work.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Israeli cuisine has inspired long-form dismissals, along with charges of cultural appropriation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
However, Root's recent run of leg-before dismissals began when he was trapped by Australia's Jhye Richardson in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Additionally, hearing of the institution’s employee strikes, dismissals and downsizing due to lower enrollments, I respectfully declined.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
The doctors were having their weekly board meeting—old business, new business, admissions, dismissals and interviews.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
