dismiss
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dismisses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dismissed,
past participle, past
-
dismissing
present participle
-
to direct (an assembly of persons) to disperse or go.
I dismissed the class early.
-
to bid or allow (a person) to go; give permission or a request to depart.
- Antonyms:
- recall
-
to discharge or remove, as from office or service.
to dismiss an employee.
- Synonyms:
- fire
- Antonyms:
- hire
-
to discard or reject.
to dismiss a suitor.
- Antonyms:
- accept
-
to put off or away, especially from consideration; put aside; reject.
She dismissed the story as mere rumor.
-
to have done with (a subject) after summary treatment.
After a perfunctory discussion, he dismissed the idea.
-
Law. to put out of court, as a complaint or appeal.
verb
-
to remove or discharge from employment or service
-
to send away or allow to go or disperse
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to dispel from one's mind; discard; reject
-
to cease to consider (a subject)
they dismissed the problem
-
to decline further hearing to (a claim or action)
the judge dismissed the case
-
cricket to bowl out (a side) for a particular number of runs
Synonym Usage
See release.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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predismissverb (used with object)
-
redismissverb (used with object)
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dismissibleadjective
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dismissiveadjective
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undismissedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dismisssimple
-
dismissessimple
-
have dismissedperfect
-
has dismissedperfect
-
am dismissingprogressive
-
are dismissingprogressive
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is dismissingprogressive
-
have been dismissingperfect progressive
-
has been dismissingperfect progressive
Past
-
dismissedsimple
-
had dismissedperfect
-
was dismissingprogressive
-
were dismissingprogressive
-
had been dismissingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dismiss
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin dismissus, from Latin dīmissus “sent away,” past participle of dīmittere “to send away,” from Latin dī, variant of dis- dis- 1 + mitt(ere) “to let go, send”
Explanation
At the end of a lesson period, your teacher says, "class dismissed." This means that you and the rest of the students are free to go. Dismiss means to let go. If a judge dismisses a case, it means he's saying it has no merit, and is throwing it out of court. If you are dismissed from your job, it means you've been fired. And if you've been ignoring your friends' warnings that your boyfriend is cheating, you've been dismissing their concerns. "Don't dismiss me!" is something you say when the person you're talking to is not taking you and your comments seriously.
Vocabulary lists containing dismiss
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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Warm-up, List 1
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Nothing But the Truth
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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.
See Examples For:
These caveats aren’t intended to dismiss the risks from AI, especially given its rapidly growing ability to train itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Fox’s “motion to dismiss was denied. That means the case is continuing,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Maybe that was an intentional rebuttal to the way the powers that be have attempted to dismiss the movement.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
There’s a not-so-subtle message in that genesis myth explaining the compulsion for men to dismiss a woman’s anger, however the Greeks might define it, even if you don’t interpret it as such.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
Celia appreciates that he does not immediately dismiss the idea.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
He dismisses the theory, also put forward by the KWS, that the cyanide might have come from a type of foliage, noting local livestock would have died as well.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Jantos dismisses accusations that this is "just a marketing line", saying it wants to help users find long-term relationships rather stay on the platform indefinitely.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
For her part Zoe, mature well beyond her tender age, dismisses the hype with a shrug.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
He largely dismisses AI’s potential benefits, such as faster and less expensive drug development and medical cures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
He dismisses Jake, who glances at me, the distress clear in his eyes, and steps out.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
Wildeford dismissed the idea that the common funding sources were “some giant firestorm conspiracy theory” and said AI lab employees often tell him “how afraid they are of what they are building.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Barrera dismissed these criticisms as part of a “decade-old internal union leadership fight.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
At the time, he dismissed the allegations as “fabrications.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
In 2019, a Thai court dismissed the case against suspected wildlife trafficking kingpin Boonchai Bach.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The girl is kept longer, but she too is dismissed, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
“But I’m not dismissing the threat because it is very real.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Donaghy said there was "a culture of dismissing and setting aside patients and families who raise concerns as being difficult, abrasive and denying people access to be heard".
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Despite developing the machine with scientists, Ernetti’s claims of what he saw — including Christ’s crucifixion — quickly became sensationalized fodder, with some believing in Ernetti’s discovery and others dismissing it as a hoax.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
BlackRock began voting against ESG proposals, dismissing many as low-quality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Then his eyes glazed over and he shook his head, like he was dismissing a juice-box-induced hallucination.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
