dismissive

adjective

dis·​mis·​sive dis-ˈmi-siv 

: serving to dismiss or reject someone or something : having or showing a disdainful attitude toward someone or something regarded as unworthy of serious attention

He responded to the question with a dismissive wave.

In the past, Westerberg had been dismissive of Bob's playing, but he says relistening to the early records gave him a new perspective.

—Bob Weir

dismissively adverb

Writer Tom Fontana's violent, realistic drama debuted five years ago and uninitiated viewers still dismissively call it "that prison show on HBO."

—Ian Rothkerch

These are not people who speak dismissively of the brain's capabilities.

—Brad Leithauser

dismissiveness noun

The work of feminist scholars, both individually and collectively, has been greeted in some quarters with impatience, irritation, dismissiveness, even contempt.

—Cullen Murphy

Examples of dismissive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But Thomas’s opinion is exceedingly dismissive of the idea that privacy matters in this context. —Ian Millhiser, Vox, 27 June 2025

Hooper is similarly dismissive of Quint, balking when Brody suggests hiring the experienced but terse and anti-environmentalist fisherman to help find the shark. —Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 26 June 2025

The video was posted to Reddit, and several users expressed their disappointment over Cyrus allegedly being dismissive of her fans. —Charna Flam, People.com, 25 June 2025

Vaccine supporters worry that this panel could be dismissive of vaccines and discourage their use. —Pien Huang, NPR, 25 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1645, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dismissive

• derisive
• emissive
• permissive
• submissive
• transmissive
• missive