Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

dismiss

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb [transitive] British English pronunciation: dismiss /dɪsˈmɪs/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theydismiss
he/she/itdismisses
present participledismissing
past tensedismissed
past participledismissed
  1. 1
    to refuse to accept that something might be true or important

    The minister dismissed claims that he had accepted bribes.

    We should not dismiss these ideas just because they are unfamiliar.

    dismiss something as something:

    Their evidence was dismissed as completely worthless.

    dismiss something out of hand (=without considering it):

    The theory cannot be dismissed out of hand.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  dismissThesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss
  2. 2
    [often passive] to force someone to leave their job

    Edwards claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed.

    dismiss someone for something:

    He was dismissed for gross misconduct.

    dismiss someone from something:

    Jackson was dismissed from her job because of the allegations.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  dismissThesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss
  3. 3
    to officially tell people that they can leave a place

    Judge Helman dismissed the jury after they failed to reach a verdict.

    The class is dismissed.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  dismissThesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss
  4. 4
    legal if a judge dismisses a court case, they officially decide that the case should not continue

    The case was dismissed because of a lack of evidence.

    The court dismissed his appeal.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  dismissThesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss

This is the British English definition of dismiss. View American English definition of dismiss.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

glottal stop

a sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken...

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog