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Many English verbs begin with the prefix re-, meaning “again” or “backward,” so we wouldn’t criticize you for drawing a connection between rebuff and buff, a verb meaning “to polish or shine.” But rebuff would beg to differ: this word comes to us from the Middle French verb rebuffer, which traces back to the Old Italian ribuffare, meaning “to reprimand.” (Buff, in contrast, comes from the Middle French noun buffle, meaning “wild ox”). A similar word, rebuke, shares the “criticize” sense of rebuff, but not the “reject” sense; one can rebuke another’s actions or policies, but one does not rebuke the advances of another, for example. Like rebuke, rebuff can also be used as a noun, as in “The proposal was met with a stern rebuff from the Board of Trustees.”
Examples of rebuff in a Sentence
Diamy Wang, Detroit Free Press, 13 July 2024
Sony and Apollo jointly made a preliminary $26 billion offer – after a solo bid by Apollo was rebuffed – then signed an NDA and began due diligence just after Paramount’s exclusive negotiating window with Skydance ended.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 July 2024
Biden has rebuffed those calls, and vowed to stay in the 2024 race against former President Trump.
—Ivana Saric, Axios, 10 July 2024
After Fisher entered the case, Nirvana’s lawyers rebuffed his authorship claim and insisted that Cobain designed the logo.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 10 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for rebuff 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rebuff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rebuff
Cite this Entry
“Rebuff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebuff. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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