missive
Americannoun
adjective
noun
-
a formal or official letter
-
a formal word for letter
adjective
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
Explanation
A missive usually refers to the old-school style of hand-written communication on paper (remember that?), but these days you also might hear an email called a missive. No matter how you deliver it, a missive is a message. The noun missive comes from the Latin word missus, meaning "to send." You may have heard the phrase, "fire off a missive," meaning a note, memo or dispatch that was written and sent with urgency and conveyed an important message. It might have been a missive sent from a commander to the troops, telling them of a change in the battle plan. Or, maybe it was an urgent love letter to the commander's wife back home, telling her to tie a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree...
Vocabulary lists containing missive
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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Born a Crime
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It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime
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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.
The Gulf Co-operation Council – made up of representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait – also issued a missive condemning the attack.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
A missive from King Charles about the couple’s royal status has been leapt on by the British media as a sign of trouble ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
However, another missive from the judge's chambers quickly overshadowed the hotel snafu that same afternoon: the jury had reached their verdicts.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
The writers guild’s missive creates a second line of attack against tech scion David Ellison’s industry-reshaping deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“If you would only send a missive through the proper channels...I’d be happy to dictate the letters to you, if we could maybe begin this evening.”
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
