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dismiss meaning and examples

2025-10-25

Meaning

“Dismiss” means to remove, reject, or send someone/something away. It can refer to ending employment, rejecting an idea, or stopping attention to something.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Verb (transitive)

  • Forms: dismiss, dismisses, dismissed, dismissing

  • Typical patterns:

    • dismiss + object
    • dismiss + object + as + (reason/category) e.g., She dismissed his opinion as nonsense.

Common meanings:

  1. To remove someone from a job or position: The company dismissed him for misconduct.
  2. To reject or ignore an idea or feeling: He dismissed the rumor as false.
  3. To formally end a meeting or class: The teacher dismissed the students early.

Common Phrases

  • dismiss from a job – to fire someone
  • dismiss an idea/opinion – to reject a thought or view
  • case dismissed – (legal) to formally end a court case
  • dismiss the class/meeting – to tell people they can leave

Collocations

  • dismiss a complaint
  • dismiss an employee
  • dismiss a lawsuit
  • dismiss criticism
  • dismiss concerns

Examples

  1. The manager dismissed two workers for being late repeatedly.
  2. She dismissed the rumor as completely untrue.
  3. The judge dismissed the case due to lack of evidence.
  4. Don’t dismiss his suggestion without listening carefully.
  5. The teacher dismissed the class after the test.
  6. Many experts dismissed the claim as unscientific.
  7. The company quickly dismissed the report of bankruptcy.
  8. He dismissed his worries and focused on the meeting.
  • fire
  • reject
  • discharge
  • expel
  • disregard
  • terminate

Antonym

  • hire
  • accept
  • consider
  • approve