rebuff

verb re·buff \ ri-ˈbəf \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 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

The council rebuffed the traditional public districts and annexed the land, which was owned by an investment company, allowing Way's firm to build the campus.

— craig harris, azcentral, "Arizona charter school founder makes millions building his own schools," 11 July 2018
In Kabul, the capital, a group of insurgents milling in the streets was heard shouting ‘‘Death to America’’ after the truce extension was rebuffed, according to a video posted on social media by Afghan journalists.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Taliban reject Afghan government’s proposed cease-fire extension," 17 June 2018
France’s reluctance to make any offer to Mr. Trump with a gun to the EU’s head and opposition to any new trade negotiation that includes agriculture or industrial tariffs has only hardened now that the EU has been rebuffed.

— simon nixon, WSJ, "Why Angry Europeans Won’t Isolate Trump at G-7 Summit," 6 June 2018
The Police Federation, a staff association for police in England and Wales, has also asked the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority to intervene, but that effort has reportedly been rebuffed.

— david z. morris, Fortune, "Lush Has a Surprising History of Getting Political. But Its Latest Ad Campaign About Police Corruption Is Just Wild," 3 June 2018
Snap is the most prominent example; after Snap rebuffed Facebook’s attempts to buy the firm in 2013, for $3bn, Facebook cloned many of its successful features and has put a damper on its growth.

— The Economist, "American tech giants are making life tough for startups," 31 May 2018
The panel noted that the state Supreme Court had rebuffed Kane on that score even before her conviction.

— craig r. mccoy, Philly.com, "Ex-AG Kathleen Kane's conviction affirmed by Pa. appeals court," 25 May 2018
But late last week, those hopes were all but thrown away after the President rebuffed a bipartisan plan that would have addressed those four main issues.

— maya rhodan, Time, "President Trump Is Making It Harder for Congress to Make a Deal on Immigration," 16 Jan. 2018
The suggestion has been firmly rebuffed by both groups.

— elizabeth paton, New York Times, "Luxury’s Chess Masters Prepare for a New Game," 30 June 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."