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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. It is derived from Middle French 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 "His proposal was met with a stern rebuff from the Board of Trustees."

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 on the Web China has a long and effective history of using massed small craft to rebuff stronger rivals. — Craig Hooper, Forbes, 7 May 2022 Poland has sent at least 240 Soviet-style tanks to Ukraine, Polish officials said, a donation that is enough to form two new tank brigades as Ukraine races to rebuff Russia’s advance in the east of the country. — Drew Hinshaw, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022 In addition, digital currencies came under scrutiny with speculation swirling that they could be used to skirt Russian sanctions, though many analysts rebuff that claim. — Emily Nicolle, Bloomberg.com, 27 Mar. 2022 On Tuesday, Powell took pains to rebuff suggestions from some Democratic senators that rate increases would slow hiring and potentially leave many people, particularly lower-income and Black Americans, without jobs. — Christopher Rugaber, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2022 The White House has signaled an openness to taking further steps to protect Ukraine and rebuff Russia. — Rick Klein, ABC News, 28 Feb. 2022 Hours before the ceremony, Xi met with Russia President Vladimir Putin in a display of solidarity to rebuff concern over the Kremlin’s military buildup around Ukraine. — Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2022 On Tuesday, Powell took pains to rebuff suggestions from some Democratic senators that rate increases would slow hiring and potentially leave many people, particularly lower-income and Black Americans, without jobs. — Christopher Rugaber, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2022 McConnell tried to rebuff concerns among Democrats that GOP state lawmakers across the country are trying to disenfranchise minority voters by pointing to record-high turnout for all voters in the 2020 election. — Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, chicagotribune.com, 22 Jan. 2022 See More

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.