Dismiss

/dɪsˈmɪs/

verbBeginner🔥Very CommonAction
2 meanings1 idiom/phrase3 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

To send someone away or allow them to leave; to reject or refuse to consider.

/dɪsˈmɪs/

verbneutralBeginner
Action

To send someone away or allow them to leave.

The judge dismissed the case.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're a teacher, and the school day is over. When you say "You're dismissed!" you're telling everyone they can go home. Dismiss also means to decide something isn't important or worth thinking about, like when you dismiss a silly thought.

👶 For kids: To tell someone they can go home or to stop thinking about something.

More Examples

2

The professor dismissed the student's argument as irrelevant.

3

The employees were dismissed for the day at 5 pm.

How It's Used

Education

"The teacher dismissed the class after the bell rang."

Employment

"The company dismissed the employee due to poor performance."

2

To treat as unworthy of attention; to reject.

/dɪsˈmɪs/

verbneutralmedium
Action

To reject or refuse to consider something.

She quickly dismissed the rumor.

💡 Simply: Imagine someone tells you a silly joke. If you don't laugh and you just say "nah" you're basically dismissing it! Dismissing something means you don't think it's important or true and you choose not to pay attention to it.

👶 For kids: To say something isn't important.

More Examples

2

He dismissed her concerns as insignificant.

3

The committee dismissed the proposal after a brief discussion.

How It's Used

Law

"The court dismissed the lawsuit due to lack of evidence."

Politics

"The politician dismissed the allegations as untrue."

Tip:Imagine you're trying to tell someone about your brilliant idea, but they shrug it off (dismiss) it.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Idioms & expressions

dismiss from one's mind

To intentionally stop thinking about something; to banish a thought or concern.

"She tried to dismiss the worries from her mind before the presentation."

From Middle English *dismissen*, from Old French *dismisser* (to send away), from Latin *dimittere* (to send away, let go), from *dis-* (apart) + *mittere* (to send).

The word 'dismiss' has been used since the 14th century to describe the action of sending away, and later to reject or disregard.

Memory tip

Think of a teacher telling students they can LEAVE (dismiss) or when you REJECT something (dismiss) a silly idea.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"to send"

dismiss a claimdismiss an argumentdismiss a casedismiss the classdismiss an employeedismiss as unimportantdismiss from servicedismiss from his mind

Common misspellings

dismisdismess

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written