sortie

noun

sor·​tie ˈsȯr-tē How to pronounce sortie (audio)
sȯr-ˈtē
Synonyms of sortienext
1
: a sudden issuing of troops from a defensive position against the enemy
2
: one mission or attack by a single plane
3
a
: foray, raid
b
: excursion, expedition
diving sorties
sortie intransitive verb
sortied; sortieing

Synonyms of sortie

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of sortie in a Sentence

an occasional sortie to the city to rummage through some of its numerous used-book stores
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The thousands of sorties carried out in the first weeks of the war are estimated to have generated the equivalent of more than half a million tons of CO2. — Chris Hamill-Stewart, Wired News, 27 Apr. 2026 These technologies increase sortie generation while reducing crew requirements compared with the Nimitz class. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 June 2026 Another way to identify aggressive checkers is via interrupting opposition sorties in the neutral zone. — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 26 June 2026 Kouza, who owns a Pagani Huayra but opted for a Ferrari 296 for this supercar sortie went on to articulate the consensus of every participant. — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 11 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for sortie

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from sortir to go out, leave

First Known Use

1778, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sortie was in 1778

Rhymes for sortie

See All Rhymes for sortie

Browse Nearby Words

sorter
sortie
sortilege
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sortie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sortie. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

sortie

noun
sor·​tie ˈsȯrt-ē How to pronounce sortie (audio)
sȯr-ˈtē
: a sudden rushing out of troops from a position of defense against the enemy : sally
sortie verb

More from Merriam-Webster on sortie

Nglish: Translation of sortie for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All