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
-
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
-
predismissverb (used with object)
-
redismissverb (used with object)
-
dismissibleadjective
-
dismissiveadjective
-
undismissedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dismisssimple
-
dismissessimple
-
have dismissedperfect
-
has dismissedperfect
-
am dismissingprogressive
-
are dismissingprogressive
-
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:
That doesn’t mean you need to dismiss a travel influencer’s recommendations entirely, however.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
On her sentence, the court will either dismiss the prosecution's appeal or uphold it and re-sentence her.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
In his Tuesday ruling, Seabright declined to dismiss the indictments against defendants in the two cases that he banned Essayli from overseeing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
His legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the charges.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
“I wish you all good-night, now,” said he, making a movement of the hand towards the door, in token that he was tired of our company, and wished to dismiss us.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Oppenheim dismisses the comparison, saying their series isn’t a conventional documentary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Teachout dismisses AI developers’ claims that many of the known problems created by their systems, including hacks of other digital systems, were inadvertent and therefore nobody’s fault.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
He dismisses concerns about its effectiveness, including suggestions that alleviated symptoms could be due to a placebo effect.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Bret dismisses the luxury car as a “two-door tank that was hardly the sporty vehicle” he “longed for.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Marco politely dismisses the illusionists in the lobby, explaining that the position has been filled and thanking them for their time.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
He has been backed by his daughter Samantha who has dismissed the claims against her father as "fake".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Seoul accused Pyongyang of "a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement" and demanded an apology, something the North has mockingly dismissed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Bacelar disputed the accusations, and said the lawsuit is filled with recycled claims that were previously litigated and dismissed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Department of Justice within 10 business days every time it has entered into a plea deal, or dismissed or lowered the charges on a felony offense that resulted from a task force arrest.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
All I knew was that I had been summoned after I thought I had already been dismissed.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Instead, the contest has been turned on its head by Bavuma's epic 179 and South Africa twice dismissing Australia, setting up a tantalising finale in Cape Town.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
These realities don’t map to every experience yet following the NPC slander to its logical conclusion can be dangerous: declaring that a person’s alleged lack of inner thinking is justification for dismissing their humanity.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
“They’ve spent years dismissing SpaceX as a competitive threat while passing on opportunities that might have worked in their favor,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
A White House official told CBS that any personnel announcement would come directly from the president, dismissing the reports as speculation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
It looked as if she was in a constant state of noticing danger, then assessing the danger, and then finally dismissing the now non-danger to make way for a possibly worse danger about to strike.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
