Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- indicating dismissal or rejection; having the purpose or effect of dismissing, as from one’s presence or from consideration: a curt, dismissive gesture.
- indicating lack of interest or approbation; scornful; disdainful.
1640s, “characterized by or appropriate to dismissal;” from dismiss + -ive. Meaning “contemptuous, rejecting” is recorded by 1922. Related: Dismissively.