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Synonyms

missive

American  
[mis-iv] / ˈmɪs ɪv /

noun

  1. a written message; letter.

adjective

  1. sent or about to be sent, especially of a letter from an official source.

missive British  
/ ˈmɪsɪv /

noun

  1. a formal or official letter

  2. a formal word for letter

"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

adjective

  1. rare sent or intended to be sent

"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 missive

1400–50; late Middle English ( letter ) missive < Medieval Latin ( littera ) missīva sent (letter), equivalent to Latin miss ( us ) (past participle of mittere to send) + -īva, feminine of -īvus -ive

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.

A certain fateful missive brought Holbein to Thomas More, one of Henry VIII’s most trusted advisers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

“Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people,” Altman wrote elsewhere in his 420-word missive.

From Slate • Feb. 10, 2026

We know that because after Streeting's gambit, a missive was sent around government by the Cabinet Office ordering them not to.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026

For their final holiday missive, the individual members once again recorded their contributions separately and sent them to Kenny Everett, who compiled them into this greeting.

From Salon • Dec. 23, 2025

The missive was duly placed in the hands of Alexander Sachs, a Russian-born economist with a scientific background and, more to the point, access to the White House inner circle as an advisor to FDR.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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.