Synonyms for refuse
ˈrɛf yusrefuse

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 5 votes

1. refuse

   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, deny, disavow, discard, disclaim, disown, forswear, recall, recant, 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:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refuseverb

   Synonyms:
   deny, withhold, reject, decline, repudiate

   Antonyms:
   grant, afford, yield, concede, acquiesce

2. refusenoun

   Synonyms:
   offal, scum, dregs, sediment, recrement, sweepings, trash, offscourings, debris, remains, dross

   Antonyms:
   cream, pickings, firstfruits, flower, prime

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. garbage, refuse, food waste, scrapsverb

   food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

   Synonyms:
   drivel, scraps, garbage, food waste

   Antonyms:
   accept, have, consent, go for, take

2. refuse, declineverb

   show unwillingness towards

   "he declined to join the group on a hike"

   Synonyms:
   defy, turn away, correct, worsen, pass up, turn down, deny, slump, decline, resist, wane, go down, reject

   Antonyms:
   take, accept, have, go for, consent

3. refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, declineverb

   refuse to accept

   "He refused my offer of hospitality"

   Synonyms:
   freeze off, reject, rule out, go down, deny, resist, worsen, winnow out, lower, correct, decline, lour, spurn, pooh-pooh, wane, disapprove, disdain, scorn, pass up, defy, turn away, eliminate, slump, turn down

   Antonyms:
   accept, consent, take, go for, have

4. defy, resist, refuseverb

   elude, especially in a baffling way

   "This behavior defies explanation"

   Synonyms:
   pass up, baulk, reject, stand, deny, resist, hold up, hold out, fend, hold, balk, dissent, decline, jib, turn away, stand firm, withstand, defy, protest, turn down, dare

   Antonyms:
   go for, accept, consent, have, take

5. deny, refuseverb

   refuse to let have

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

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

   Antonyms:
   go for, accept, take, have, consent

6. resist, reject, refuseverb

   resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ

   "His body rejected the liver of the donor"

   Synonyms:
   baulk, reject, rule out, deny, stand, stand firm, freeze off, eliminate, hold out, fend, withstand, winnow out, decline, spurn, dissent, turn away, pooh-pooh, jib, balk, disapprove, disdain, scorn, pass up, defy, protest, resist, turn down

   Antonyms:
   have, accept, consent, go for, take

7. reject, turn down, turn away, refuseverb

   refuse entrance or membership

   "They turned away hundreds of fans"; "Black people were often rejected by country clubs"

   Synonyms:
   freeze off, eliminate, rule out, avert, deflect, deny, resist, bend, winnow out, lower, decline, lour, spurn, pass up, pooh-pooh, reject, disapprove, disdain, scorn, defy, turn away, turn down

   Antonyms:
   have, go for, accept, consent, take

Matched Categories

1. • Elude
   • Keep
   • React

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refuseverb

   Synonyms:
   deny, decline

2. refuseverb

   Synonyms:
   reject, repudiate

3. refusenoun

   Synonyms:
   dross, scum, dregs, sediment, lees, draff, recrement, rubbish, offal, GARBAGE, scoria, waste matter

4. refuseadjective

   Synonyms:
   worthless, waste

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

1. refusenoun

   Synonyms:
   offal, dregs, offscum, garbage, fag-ends, recrement, riffraff, lees, dross, draff, offscouring, rubbish, waste, culls

2. refuseverb

   Synonyms:
   deny, decline, reject, rebuff, repulse

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

1. List of paraphrases for "refuse":

   deny, reject, garbage, refuses, refusing, refusal, rubbish, litter, waste, withhold, trash, rejects, denying, disallow, decline, junk, denial, refused, wastes, refus

Suggested Resources

1. refuse

   Song lyrics by refuse -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by refuse on the Lyrics.com website.

How to pronounce refuse?

How to say refuse in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use refuse in a sentence?

1. W. Somerset Maugham:

   It's a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

2. Jean-Paul Sartre:

   A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution.

3. Ashima:

   There are two people in the world whom you cannot refuse anything. Your mother. Your mother's mother. Period.

4. Maine Gov. Paul LePage:

   The Obama administration goes to great lengths to police the menus of K-12 cafeterias but looks the other way as billions of taxpayer dollars finance a steady diet of Mars bars and Mountain Dew, i can think of only one reason why the federal government would refuse to eliminate junk food from the EBT menu: special interests.

5. Roger McNamee:

   By draping his essay in the guise of cooperation, Zuckerberg hopes to distract policy makers from the real threat, their code and algorithms influence our daily lives in ways far more intrusive than democratic governments or the law. No one elected these companies and they refuse to be held accountable.