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dismissal

dis·mis·salUK [dɪsˈmɪsəɫ]noun

dismissal is a noun meaning “The act of sending someone away” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled D-I-S-M-I-S-S-A-L and has 3 syllables (dis·mis·sal), and it appears 5.2 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of dismissal is dismissals.

What does dismissal mean?

noun

  1. 1

    The act of sending someone away.

  2. 2

    Deprivation of office; the fact or process of being fired from employment or stripped of rank.

  3. 3

    A written or spoken statement of such an act.

  4. 4

    Release from confinement; liberation.

  5. 5

    Removal from consideration; putting something out of one's mind, mentally disregarding something or someone.

  6. 6

    The rejection of a legal proceeding, or a claim or charge made therein.

  7. 7

    The event of a batsman getting out; a wicket.

  8. 8

    The final blessing said by a priest or minister at the end of a religious service.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce dismissal?

  • UK [dɪsˈmɪsəɫ]
  • UK [dɪzˈmɪsəɫ]

Dismissal has 3 syllables, split dis·mis·sal in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-dismissal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of dismissal

  • dismissals plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is dismissal?

Dismissal appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Dismissal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanWegschicken, Abweisen, Abweisung (act of sending someone away), Entlassung, Kündigung, Abberufung (deprivation of office)
Portuguesedispensa (act of sending someone away), demissão, despedimento (deprivation of office), arquivamento, arquivação (rejection of a legal proceeding, or a claim)
Spanishdespido (act of sending someone away), destitución (deprivation of office), desistimiento, sobreseimiento, desestimación (rejection of a legal proceeding, or a claim)
Frenchlimogeage, licenciement (deprivation of office), non-lieu (rejection of a legal proceeding, or a claim)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.