Synonyms for deny
dɪˈnaɪde·ny

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 4 votes

1. deny

   Abjure, discard, forswear, recall, recant, renounce, retract, and revoke, like abandon, imply some previous connection. Renounce (Latin re, back, and nuntio, bear a message) is to declare against and give up formally and definitively; as, to renounce the pomps and vanities of the world. Recant (Latin re, back, and canto, sing) is to take back or deny formally and publicly, as a belief that one has held or professed. Retract (Latin re, back, and traho, draw) is to take back something that one has said as not true or as what one is not ready to maintain; as, to retract a charge or accusation; one recants what was especially his own, he retracts what was directed against another. Repudiate (Latin re, back, or away, and pudeo, feel shame) is primarily to renounce as shameful, hence to divorce, as a wife; thus in general to put away with emphatic and determined repulsion; as, to repudiate a debt. To deny is to affirm to be not true or not binding; as, to deny a statement or a relationship; or to refuse to grant as something requested; as, his mother could not deny him what he desired. To discard is to cast away as useless or worthless; thus, one discards a worn garment; a coquette discards a lover. Revoke (Latin re, back, and voco, call), etymologically the exact equivalent of the English recall, is to take back something given or granted; as, to revoke a command, a will, or a grant; recall may be used in the exact sense of revoke, but is often applied to persons, as revoke is not; we recall a messenger and revoke the order with which he was charged. Abjure (Latin ab, away, and juro, swear) is etymologically the exact equivalent of the Saxon forswear, signifying to put away formally and under oath, as an error, heresy, or evil practise, or a condemned and detested person. A man abjures his religion, recants his belief, abjures or renounces his allegiance, repudiates another's claim, renounces his own, retracts a false statement. A person may deny, disavow, disclaim, disown what has been truly or falsely imputed to him or supposed to be his. He may deny his signature, disavow the act of his agent, disown his child; he may repudiate a just claim or a base suggestion. A native of the United States can not abjure or renounce allegiance to the Queen of England, but will promptly deny or repudiate it. Compare ABANDON.

   Synonyms:
   abandon, abjure, disavow, discard, disclaim, disown, forswear, recall, recant, refuse, reject, renounce, repudiate, retract, revoke

   Antonyms:
   acknowledge, advocate, assert, avow, cherish, claim, defend, hold, maintain, own, proclaim, retain, uphold, vindicate

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. deny

   Synonyms:
   refuse, reject, withhold, negative, contradict, gainsay, disclaim, disavow, disown, oppose

   Antonyms:
   grant, accept, concede, admit, affirm, confirm, afford, yield, indulge

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. denyverb

   declare untrue; contradict

   "He denied the allegations"; "She denied that she had taken money"

   Synonyms:
   abnegate, traverse, refuse

   Antonyms:
   grant, allow, acknowledge, admit

2. denyverb

   refuse to accept or believe

   "He denied his fatal illness"

   Synonyms:
   abnegate, traverse, refuse

   Antonyms:
   admit, grant, acknowledge, allow

3. denyverb

   refuse to grant, as of a petition or request

   "The dean denied the students' request for more physics courses"; "the prisoners were denied the right to exercise for more than 2 hours a day"

   Synonyms:
   abnegate, traverse, refuse

   Antonyms:
   allow, grant, admit, acknowledge

4. deny, refuseverb

   refuse to let have

   "She denies me every pleasure"; "he denies her her weekly allowance"

   Synonyms:
   defy, turn away, traverse, refuse, pass up, turn down, abnegate, decline, resist, reject

   Antonyms:
   admit, allow, grant, acknowledge

5. deny, abnegateverb

   deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure

   "She denied herself wine and spirits"

   Synonyms:
   abnegate, traverse, refuse

   Antonyms:
   allow, admit, grant, acknowledge

6. traverse, denyverb

   deny formally (an allegation of fact by the opposing party) in a legal suit

   Synonyms:
   traverse, cover, cut across, refuse, cross, sweep, span, get over, cut through, get across, track, pass over, abnegate

   Antonyms:
   acknowledge, allow, admit, grant

7. denyverb

   refuse to recognize or acknowledge

   "Peter denied Jesus"

   Synonyms:
   abnegate, traverse, refuse

   Antonyms:
   admit, acknowledge, grant, allow

Matched Categories

1. • Control
   • Disavow
   • Keep
   • Negate
   • Renounce
   • Withhold

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. denyverb

   Synonyms:
   contradict, gainsay, declare to be untrue

2. denyverb

   Synonyms:
   renounce, abjure, disown, disavow, abnegate, refuse to acknowledge

3. denyverb

   Synonyms:
   withhold, refuse to grant

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. denyverb

   Synonyms:
   gainsay, contradict, disavow, disown, abjure, renounce, abnegate

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "deny":

   refuse, denies, deprive, negate, reject, withhold, denial, denied, refusing, refute, gainsay, prevent

Suggested Resources

1. DENY

   What does DENY stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the DENY acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

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How to use deny in a sentence?

1. Andy and Larry Wachowski, The Matrix, 1999:

   To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.

2. Chuck Schumer:

   Experts have made clear that Positive Train Control could have prevented the tragedy in Philadelphia, it is simply a fact that insufficient funding for Amtrak has delayed the installation of PTC, and to deny a connection between the accident and underfunding Amtrak is to deny reality.

3. Ursala Lequin:

   To break a promise is to deny the reality of the past Therefore it is to deny the hope of a real future....

4. President Obama:

   We have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the last several decades, i have witnessed that in my own life and to deny that progress, I think, is to deny America’s capacity for change. A new Gallup poll shows Americans' perception of race relations essential unchanged since 2002, with roughly 66 percent of black respondents saying relations are good, compared to 72 percent for non-Hispanic whites. Obama also told National Public Radio, in the year-end interview with.

5. Liz Smith:

   To deny we need and want power is to deny that we hope to be effective.