rebuff

verb re·buff \ ri-ˈbəf \

Definition of rebuff

transitive verb

: to reject or criticize sharply : snub

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rebuff

noun

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See rebuff defined for kids

rebuff was our Word of the Day on 09/20/2012. Hear the podcast!

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

Kimberly Harris-Ferrante and Michael Ramsey, analysts for global technology consulting firm Gartner, rebuff the notion that these machines are just around the corner.

— pete bigelow, Car and Driver, "Flying Cars Sound Cool, but They Could Bring Hellish Reality," 2 Oct. 2017
In addition, council members complained that they had been rebuffed by the district in seeking an inclusive policy towards transgender students, as some other districts in the Philadelphia region have done.

— kathy boccella, Philly.com, "Council Rock parents say schools not doing enough about racist incidents," 27 Sep. 2017
Walker, who won his election as an independent after previously running as a Republican, rebuffed entreaties from the White House to support the proposal written by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

— russell berman, The Atlantic, "The Two Republicans Who Will Likely Determine Obamacare's Fate," 19 Sep. 2017
But while Davis is plotting more diplomacy, the U.K. team has been rebuffing offers from the EU to schedule another round of negotiations.

— emma ross-thomas, Bloomberg.com, "Brexit Bulletin: Diplomat Davis," 30 Oct. 2017
Those who knew Pavel Florea well, including the mother of one of his children, describe a man who apparently rebuffed efforts to help him, and who displayed concerning behavior in the days leading up to the fire.

— katy moeller, idahostatesman, "‘You need to go find this guy,’ they warned police. Then came the home invasion.," 23 Oct. 2017
The Democrats who rebuffed an effort to kill the deal two years ago are also opposed to overturning it.

— jonah shepp, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Is Letting Congress Determine the Iran Deal’s Fate. Here’s What It Can Do.," 13 Oct. 2017
The lawsuit claims that Caroline Records and Music, which is affiliate with Universal Music Group, tried over the years to get Strange Music to join the label, which Strange Music has rebuffed.

— steve vockrodt, kansascity, "Strange vs. Strainge: Tech N9ne lawsuit aims to end confusion," 6 Oct. 2017
This blockbuster story quickly fizzled when top White House advisor Gary Cohn rebuffed it.

— nicolas loris, Fortune, "Why Renegotiating the Paris Agreement Would Be a Total Waste of Time," 26 Sep. 2017

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."