repudiate

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verb re·pu·di·ate \ ri-ˈpyü-dē-ˌāt \

Definition of repudiate

repudiated; repudiating

transitive verb

1 :to divorce or separate formally from (a woman)

2 :to refuse to have anything to do with :disown

3 a :to refuse to accept; especially :to reject as unauthorized or as having no binding force

repudiate a contract

b :to reject as untrue or unjust

repudiate a charge

4 :to refuse to acknowledge or pay

repudiate a debt

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repudiator

play \-ˌā-tər\ noun

See repudiate defined for English-language learners

See repudiate defined for kids

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Examples of repudiate in a Sentence

During the Algerian war of independence, the United States had also repudiated France's claimed right to attack a town in neighboring Tunisia that succored Algerian guerrillas … —Christopher Hitchens, Harper's, February 2001
When witnessing abuse, boys will identify with the seemingly powerful father who appears to be a "winner" and will repudiate the mother, who seems to be the "loser." —Constance Adler, Shape, September 1993
While a wife could divorce her husband only for good reason … a husband could repudiate his wife without giving any reason … —Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 1991
Voters in Myanmar … appeared today to have sharply repudiated their military rulers and to have given a landslide victory to the main opposition party … —Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 29 May 1990
Photographs, the most ubiquitous emblem of mass culture, found an obvious place in Pop Art, and were embraced by those intent on repudiating the preciosity of action painting. —Naomi Rosenblum, A World History of Photography, 1989
Three weeks after the agreement was made and before any specifications were submitted, the buyer repudiated the agreement. —John D. Calamari and Joseph M. Perillo, The Law of Contracts, 1987
a generation that has repudiated the values of the past
He has publicly repudiated the government's policies.
He published an article that repudiates the study's claims.
She says she has evidence which repudiates the allegations.

Recent Examples of repudiate from the Web

But after TMZ published the photo, Cooper came under tremendous pressure to repudiate it.

— yashar ali, The Cut, "Off With Her Head," 27 Aug. 2017
Bannon, pied piper for alt-right nationalists, leaves behind a president with a 34% approval rating who is being universally repudiated for defending white supremacist and Nazi demonstrators, with no major legislation passed.

— jeff darcy, cleveland.com, "Ousted Steve Bannon leaves his mark: Darcy cartoon," 20 Aug. 2017
The Boy Scouts of America condemned Trump's speech to its national jamboree as overly political and apologized to scouts, while some police organizations repudiated his call to be rougher on suspects.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "President scrambles to regroup as the West Wing battles itself," 29 July 2017
Yet when Farook Hameed, a 31-year-old father of two in the Indian city of Coimbatore, was hacked to death by childhood friends for having repudiated Islam and declared himself an atheist, there was little reaction from abroad.

— The Economist, "Reconciliation is not impossible, but it will be a long, slow process," 22 July 2017
Fund managers who own Mozambique bonds are calling for the country to repudiate government guarantees on loans made to the country by Credit Suisse Group AG and Russia’s VTB Bank.

— matt wirz, WSJ, "Mozambique Bondholders Push for Loan Repudiation," 29 June 2017
After Russian forces deployed their hacking tools during the recent French presidential election, Trump invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the White House and failed to repudiate the attack against a vital American ally.

— neera tanden, The Atlantic, "The Kremlin's Investment in Trump Is Paying Off," 24 June 2017
Last September, for instance, Trump finally repudiated his years-long conspiracy theory that claimed President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

— stephen collinson, CNN, "Trump ends his self-made crisis where it started: Twitter," 22 June 2017
Neither entirely embracing nor repudiating Trump, Handel effectively steered the election more into a referendum on whether voters wanted Democrat Nancy Pelosi as House speaker.

— ronald brownstein, The Atlantic, "What Democrats' Defeat in Georgia Means—and Doesn't," 21 June 2017

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

Did You Know?

In Latin, the noun "repudium" refers to the rejection of a spouse or prospective spouse, and the related verb repudiare means "to divorce" or "to reject." In the 16th century, English writers used the derivative "repudiate" to mean "to divorce," when in reference to a wife, or "to disown," when in reference to a member of one's family, or just generally "to reject or cast off." By the 19th century the word had also come to be used for the rejection of things that one does not accept as true or just, ranging from opinions and accusations to contracts and debts.

Origin and Etymology of repudiate

Latin repudiatus, past participle of repudiare, from repudium rejection of a prospective spouse, divorce, probably from re- + pudēre to shame

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First Known Use: 1545

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repudiate Synonyms

Synonyms

contradict, disaffirm, disallow, disavow, disclaim, disconfirm, disown, gainsay, negate, negative, refute, reject, deny

Antonyms

acknowledge, admit, allow, avow, concede, confirm, own

Related Words

traverse; challenge, confute, disprove, rebut; disagree (with), dispute

Near Antonyms

accept, adopt, embrace, espouse; affirm, announce, assert, aver, claim, declare, maintain, profess, submit; authenticate, corroborate, substantiate, validate, verify

Synonym Discussion of repudiate

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

REPUDIATE Defined for English Language Learners

repudiate

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verb

Definition of repudiate for English Language Learners

: to refuse to accept or support (something) : to reject (something or someone)
: to say or show that (something) is not true

REPUDIATE Defined for Kids

repudiate

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verb re·pu·di·ate \ ri-ˈpyü-dē-ˌāt \

Definition of repudiate for Students

repudiated; repudiating

1 :to refuse to have anything to do with

They repudiated their wayward son.

2 :to refuse to believe or approve of

She repudiated the rumors.

Law Dictionary

repudiate

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transitive verb re·pu·di·ate \ ri-ˈpyü-dē-ˌāt \

legal Definition of repudiate

repudiated; repudiating

:to disavow or reject an obligation (as a debt) or duty (as performance under a contract); specifically :to indicate an inability or unwillingness to perform as promised under (a contract)

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