renege

verb

re·​nege ri-ˈneg 

 also  -ˈnāg,

-ˈnig;

rē- 

reneged; reneging

intransitive verb

1

: to go back on a promise or commitment

2

: revoke

3

obsolete : to make a denial

transitive verb

: deny, renounce

reneger noun

Synonyms

• withdraw
• recall
• back out
• back down
• retract

Examples of renege in a Sentence

They had promised to pay her tuition but later reneged.

my so-called best friend promised to help me move, only to renege come Saturday morning

Recent Examples on the Web

Most countries negotiating trade deals with the U.S. are aware of Trump’s proclivity for reneging on agreements. —Devashish Mitra, Time, 28 July 2025

The extraordinary announcement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche comes after weeks of controversy and criticism of the Trump administration for recently reneging on promises to make public more details of investigative files about the late money manager Epstein and Maxwell. —Dan Mangan, CNBC, 22 July 2025

But, some analysts cautioned, those company commitments carry a long time horizon and wiggle room for firms to renege upon the spending as the tariff policy fluctuates. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 19 July 2025

Dan O'Brien, a senior analyst at the climate policy think tank Energy Innovation, said individual cases of firms reneging on their renewables investments were becoming commonplace. —Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin renegare

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for renege

• big
• brig
• brigg
• dig
• fig
• gig
• jig
• mig
• pig
• prig
• rig
• sprig

Kids Definition

renege

verb

re·​nege ri-ˈnig  -ˈneg 

-ˈnēg,

-ˈnāg

reneged; reneging

1

: deny

2

: to go back on a promise or agreement

reneged on paying the debt

reneger noun