reject

1 of 2

verb

re·ject ri-ˈjekt

rejected; rejecting; rejects

Synonyms of reject next

transitive verb

: to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use

rejected the suggestion

reject a manuscript

: to refuse to hear, receive, or admit : rebuff, repel

parents who reject their children

: to refuse as lover or spouse

obsolete : to cast off

: throw back, repulse

: to spew out

: to subject to immunological rejection

rejecter noun

or rejector

ri-ˈjek-tər

rejectingly

ri-ˈjek-tiŋ-lē

adverb

rejective

ri-ˈjek-tiv

adjective

reject

2 of 2

noun

re·ject ˈrē-ˌjekt

: a rejected person or thing

especially : one rejected as not wanted, unsatisfactory, or not fulfilling requirements

Choose the Right Synonym for reject

decline, refuse, reject, repudiate, spurn mean to turn away by not accepting, receiving, or considering.

decline often implies courteous refusal especially of offers or invitations.

declined his party's nomination

refuse suggests more positiveness or ungraciousness and often implies the denial of something asked for.

refused to lend them the money

reject implies a peremptory refusal by sending away or discarding.

rejected the manuscript as unpublishable

repudiate implies a casting off or disowning as untrue, unauthorized, or unworthy of acceptance.

teenagers who repudiate the values of their parents

spurn stresses contempt or disdain in rejection or repudiation.

spurned his overtures of friendship

Example Sentences

Verb My teacher rejected my excuse for being late. The committee rejected my proposal. The produce inspector rejected several crates of berries that had begun to grow mold. The college rejects hundreds of applicants each year. We rejected 5 of the 10 job applicants right away. Noun Stack the promising applications here, and put the rejects over there. was the school reject as a child and has low self-esteem even today See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Because voters cannot subject bills that include spending provisions to a referendum, Whitmer signed an executive directive vowing to reject bills that included appropriations to circumvent the public's right to a referendum. —

Detroit Free Press, 24 Mar. 2023 However, many prominent Sudanese factions reject the move. —

Jack Jeffery, Chicago Tribune, 23 Mar. 2023 Lawmakers will meet Thursday before adjourning for the veto period - a stretch of time for Beshear to reject legislation or sign it into law. —

Olivia Krauth, The Courier-Journal, 16 Mar. 2023 In 2022 and 2021 combined, the top reason to reject a gun purchase was the unlawful use of drugs, which stopped 1,099 gun purchases. —

Ricardo Torres, Journal Sentinel, 16 Mar. 2023 The holiday evolved when Irish-Americans decided to reject rampant prejudice in the 19th and early 20th centuries by throwing loud and ostentatious parties to celebrate their heritage. —

Diego Lasarte, Quartz, 16 Mar. 2023 The changes the government plans to enact would restrict the Supreme Court’s ability to reject laws passed by Parliament — circumventing the bill passed in 1992 — and allow Parliament to override Supreme Court decisions. —

Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2023 Republicans are likely to reject the increase, but the proposal shows that the president himself is willing to chip in to save the retirement program. —

Nate Dicamillo, Quartz, 9 Mar. 2023 Three of the eight speakers during the public comment portion of the meeting urged the board to reject the Amplify materials. —

Trisha Powell Crain | Tcrain@al.com, al, 9 Mar. 2023

Noun

Photos that weren’t used for promotion at the time were placed in a reject box and stashed away in a file cabinet. —

Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Jan. 2023 The Inner Richmond dad in March 2021 founded Refuse Refuse — meaning reject trash — as a one-man cleanup operation determined to keep his block tidy. —

Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Jan. 2023 While some political observers feared — and polls suggested — voters might storm the ballot box in a frothing, burn-it-all-down, reject-everything kind of mood, that’s not what happened. —

Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Nov. 2022 Leaders of this kind, from all backgrounds, are undermined by the hyper-partisan politics of our day that require ideological rigidity and reject growth, inspiration, connection and courage. —

William Inboden, CNN, 8 Oct. 2022 In March, the FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee, a panel of independent medical experts, voted 6-4 to recommend the FDA reject Amylyx’s application. —

Ryan Cross, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Sep. 2022 As a general principle, the Baduy reject vaccinations, although some have reluctantly accepted them in order to travel outside the area. —

New York Times, 11 July 2022 Those who serve in Congress must be wary of, and reject, proposals that would further politicize the Court and add to the decline in the public’s trust in it. —

Anchorage Daily News, 7 Aug. 2022 Hite said the reverse-osmosis plant, which is diesel-powered, also uses the high-pressure reject water to help turn its pump, enabling it to use a smaller motor and reduce electrical consumption. —

Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2022 See More

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