dissertation
Americannoun
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a written essay, treatise, or thesis, especially one written by a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
-
any formal discourse in speech or writing.
noun
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a written thesis, often based on original research, usually required for a higher degree
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a formal discourse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of dissertation
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin dissertātiōn-, stem of dissertātiō, equivalent to dissert + -ation
Explanation
A dissertation is a long piece of writing that uses research to bring to light an original idea. Don't go to grad school unless you're prepared to write, say, a 300-page dissertation on some topic. In everyday speech, we sometimes accuse people of delivering dissertations when they overload us with dull information. If you're annoyed with a long memo from your office manager about keeping the kitchen clean, you could mutter to a coworker, “How’d you like that dissertation Felix posted about rinsing out our mugs?”
Vocabulary lists containing dissertation
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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The Kite Runner
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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
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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.
Once passionate about art studies, Clare abandoned a half-finished dissertation to become a parent and now finds that the thrill she once felt about fine paintings is gone.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
"The dissertation work was making the geologic connection between what we might see at the surface versus what we might see hundreds or thousands of feet belowground," Sankey said.
From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026
You could write a dissertation exploring all of the possibilities of why Dylan posted each item, and some people probably did.
From Salon • May 12, 2026
When Gleick wrote his dissertation at UC Berkeley in the 1980s, he examined a range of climate scenarios and analyzed how rising temperatures would likely change the timing of runoff in Northern California.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
And: Was my dissertation much more than an act of social withdrawal?
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
