dismissal
Americannoun
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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
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.
One show of indifference was chance, two was coincidence, but this last dismissal made me see the pattern.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
Sir Olly is understood to be considering whether to take legal action over his dismissal.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
The administration also can begin disciplinary and dismissal proceedings.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
However, Hegseth has seen the dismissal of a relatively large number of high-ranking leaders in a short time.
From Salon • May 1, 2026
So at dismissal I opened my locker fast, grabbed my trumpet, my math textbook, and my best black pen, and stuffed my jacket into my backpack—all in one motion, no stopping.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
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.
