sayonara
Americaninterjection
Etymology
Origin of sayonara
First recorded in 1860–65; from Japanese sayō-nara, shortening of sayō-naraba, equivalent to sayō “thus” + naraba “if it be”
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.
“I never really wanted to do one because I always thought it was like a bit of a farewell, like a sayonara, a swan song,” the lead singer and songwriter says.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 8, 2023
Omitted from the sayonara was any celebration of the broader Fox News product.
From Washington Post • Dec. 12, 2021
The boss has spoken: We’re leaving, pronto, sayonara, gone for good.
From Salon • Apr. 13, 2019
After years of staying put in jobs that may have been uninspiring, unrewarding or even flat-out soul-crushing, more Americans are choosing to say sayonara to their current place of work.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2016
And how a low voice in the gloom Of the temple pine-trees leaning there Said sayonara to one somewhere Unseen in the shadow-haunted air?
From Sea Poems by Rice, Cale Young
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.
