farewell address
Americannoun
-
(initial capital letters) a statement that President George Washington published in a Philadelphia newspaper in 1796 to announce that he would not run for a third term and to give his views on foreign and domestic policy.
-
a speech delivered by someone upon leaving a job, post, etc.
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.
“What we accomplished was not insignificant,” he added in his farewell address.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026
In 1796, its first president, George Washington, announced he wouldn't seek a third term with a farewell address that still resonates today.
From BBC • Jan. 8, 2026
Angelica and Eliza encouraged Hamilton and helped him refine his ideas, including his defense of the Constitution and his crafting of George Washington’s farewell address.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
In fact, George Washington’s classic farewell address came perilously close to eschewing grandness and nobility and offering a precursor to Nixon’s approach.
From Salon • Jan. 17, 2025
In a curiously rambling farewell address, he accused cabinet members of a breach of trust, of ignoring him and of playing into the hands of the African National Congress.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
