dossier

noun dos·sier \ ˈdȯs-ˌyā , ˈdäs- ; ˈdȯ-sē-ˌā , ˈdä- \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of dossier

: a file containing detailed records on a particular person or subject

the patient's medical dossier

Police began compiling a dossier on him.

See dossier defined for English-language learners

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dossier was our Word of the Day on 04/03/2010. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of dossier from the Web

The firm hired Fusion GPS, the company that produced the now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia using research from Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer.

— elise viebeck, Washington Post, "Rep. Jim Jordan schedules interview with lawyers investigating alleged sexual abuse at Ohio State University," 5 July 2018
The law firm handling this case is none other than Perkins Coie; the same law firm that represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign and paid for the fake Russia dossier.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Powerful House Republican Implicated in College Sex Abuse Scandal," 3 July 2018
In 2008, Uribe ordered the secret, overnight U.S. extradition of Berna and 13 other top commanders who were reportedly preparing dossiers on his ties to the paramilitaries—setting off a prolonged power struggle between remaining factions.

— steven cohen, The New Republic, "Why Colombia Keeps Electing Presidents Tied to Murderers," 18 June 2018
The dossier shows Russia actually opposed Trump in the 2016 election.

— ryan teague beckwith, Time, "Read the 191 Arguments President Trump Has Made Against the Mueller Investigation," 7 June 2018
The original investigation, announced in late March, was spurred by claims from some House Republicans that the FBI had manipulated the Steele dossier to obtain a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign associate, Carter Page.

— natasha bach, Fortune, "Trump Demanded a Probe of Possible Campaign 'Infiltration.' The Justice Department Responded—Carefully," 21 May 2018
As Cohen's lawyers noted in their court filing, the dossier contained mistakes, including several transactions by other Michael Cohens.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Stormy Daniels' lawyer using Trump's style against Trump, a strategy that comes with risks," 15 May 2018
Trump has dismissed the dossier as a fabrication designed to damage him.

— kevin johnson, USA TODAY, "Exclusive: James Comey strikes back against 'morally unfit' Donald Trump in scathing interview," 16 Apr. 2018
Data added to the dossier also opens up new documents and websites to sift through as the program deems them as being related.

— michael moore, The Verge, "After Cambridge Analytica, this game about government surveillance feels quaint," 15 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dossier.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Gather together various documents relating to the affairs of a certain individual, sort them into separate folders, label the spine of each folder, and arrange the folders in a box. "Dossier," the French word for such a compendium of spine-labeled folders, was picked up by English speakers in the late 19th century. It comes from "dos," the French word for "back," which is in turn derived from "dorsum," Latin for back. Our word dorsal ("situated on the back"), as in the dorsal fin of a whale, comes from the same Latin source.