rebuff

verb re·buff \ ri-ˈbəf \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

Examples: rebuff in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of rebuff

rebuffed; rebuffing; rebuffs

transitive verb

: to reject or criticize sharply : snub

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rebuff

noun

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Examples of rebuff in a Sentence

Our suggestion was immediately rebuffed.
The company rebuffed the bid.
She rebuffed him when he asked her for a date.

Recent Examples of rebuff from the Web

Roberts wants to redress the drubbing he was handed by the Disney board when the company rebuffed his hostile takeover offer in 2004, and Murdoch is attempting to, finally, bring Sky under his control.

— susan crawford, WIRED, "The Comcast-Disney Battle Isn't Just Business—It's a Grand Human Drama," 7 June 2018
Sachina is a smart gal, and rebuffs all of Yuudai’s attempts to get back together.

— mariah smith, The Cut, "This Episode of Terrace House Is Brimming With Exes," 6 June 2018
Many refuse to grant access to investigational drugs outside of clinical trials, and efforts to lobby them to release the medication as part of compassionate use are often rebuffed.

— vibhav rangarajan, STAT, "The ‘cruel joke’ of compassionate use and right to try: Pharma companies don’t have to comply," 5 June 2018
According to a Justice Department filing, Tinley Park has rebuffed the government’s request to get access to recordings of five executive sessions that took place in February and March of 2016 where The Reserve project was discussed.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "Feds, Tinley Park at odds over recordings of closed-door talks related to controversial apartment development," 1 June 2018
That means Trump may ask Kim to dismantle his program — and Kim will likely rebuff the president.

— alex ward, Vox, "Trump’s big summit with Kim Jong Un is officially back on," 1 June 2018
With his choice rebuffed by Mattarella, Conte suddenly resigned as prime minister-designate on Sunday.

— david meyer, Fortune, "Italy's Populist Government Plans Just Fell Apart and Investors Can't Decide if That's a Good or Bad Thing," 28 May 2018
Back in October, Antonio Conte confirmed that Chelsea had already seen an offer rebuffed by the Giallorossi in their attempts to sign the 29-year-old midfielder.

— SI.com, "Eden Hazard Names Man City Superstar as One of Two Players He'd Love Chelsea to Sign," 28 Feb. 2018
One Veracruz family named in the litigation has repeatedly rebuffed allegations that any of its Texas properties were purchased on behalf of Duarte, and last year provided the Chronicle with documentation that supported those denials.

— robert downen, Houston Chronicle, "$75M worth of Woodlands, Spring homes were paid for with stolen, Mexican money, suits allege," 1 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rebuff.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Occurring frequently in news articles and headlines, rebuff derives (via Middle French rebuffer) from Old Italian ribuffare, meaning "to reprimand," and ultimately from the imitative verb buffare, meaning "to puff." (You might guess that the verb buff, meaning "to polish," is a "buffare" descendant, but it is actually unrelated.) 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 "His proposal was met with a stern rebuff from the Board of Trustees."