dossier

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

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.

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Recent Examples of dossier from the Web

By way of Twitter, the president-elect disparaged Brennan and accused him of leaking the explosive dossier published by BuzzFeed News.

— emma sarran webster, Teen Vogue, "Donald Trump and Russia: The Timeline," 14 Aug. 2017
The Christopher Steele dossier — and attraction of rendering Trump’s election illegitimate — led many progressives to seek comfort in conspiracy theories.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Six Months In, Is Trump’s America Living Up to Liberals’ Worst Fears?," 22 July 2017
The FBI has not corroborated the most sensational assertions in the dossier.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "Citing recusal, President Trump says he wouldn’t have hired Sessions," 20 July 2017
Senator John McCain, a former target of candidate Trump’s invective, acquired the anti-Trump dossier and made sure that the FBI investigated the phony dirt.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "Putin’s Playthings," 20 July 2017
Trump accused Comey of trying to save his job by leveraging a dossier of compromising material on the president.

— monique judge, The Root, "BIG MAD: Trump Says He Never Would Have Appointed Sessions If He Had Known He Wouldn’t Have His Back With That Whole Russia Thing," 19 July 2017
The FBI has not corroborated the most sensational assertions in the dossier.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain tumor," 19 July 2017
CNN reported in February that investigators had corroborated some points in the dossier, but not the salacious details.

— dan merica, CNN, "Trump lashes out at Justice officials," 19 July 2017
Last year, a private research firm compiled a dossier making unproven allegations about Trump, including that there was close coordination between his inner circle and Russians who hacked into Democratic email accounts.

— julie bykowicz, The Seattle Times, "AP Explains: How do politicians collect opposition research?," 13 July 2017

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.