disavowed

verb

past tense of disavow
1
as in denied
to declare not to be true disavowed the testimony that she had given earlier in the trial

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in refused
to refuse to acknowledge as one's own or as one's responsibility the government will disavow any knowledge of your mission

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of disavowed The film was written by Gore Vidal, who later disavowed it, and produced by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. — Brent Lang, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2026 El-Sayed denies any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and has publicly disavowed the group. — CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026 Rogers argued Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that El-Sayed never disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood. — Erin Cox, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2026 El-Sayed has since disavowed Piker’s controversial statements and ended plans for joint campaigning, but has not categorically repudiated him nor apologized for appearing with him. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026 Many politicians disavowed or walked back their anti-police stances from the aftermath of Floyd’s death. — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 1 Sep. 2026 President Florentino Perez never publicly disavowed Mourinho’s divisive actions — and his ghost never really left the Bernabeu. — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026 But Dark Willow has disavowed her previous self, except for one aspect. — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026 Davis has since disavowed some of his comments, but a judge ruled them admissible in court. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disavowed
  1. denied
  2. refused
  3. refuted
  4. rejected
Verb
  • The company can also expect litigation from shareholders, and possible regulatory action, if Huang or the board held back material information from investors (Nvidia previously denied the allegations of an affair to media outlets).
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Little Flock residents rejected a proposal from the city to generate additional revenue last week while those living in northeastern Benton County approved a similar idea and denied another.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Nov. 2026
Definition of denied
Verb
  • Faubus refused to remove the Arkansas National Guard and allow the Little Rock Nine to matriculate at the school.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The race to represent Montana in the upper chamber had long been viewed as Alme’s to lose, after both Bodnar and Bankhead refused to drop out in order to consolidate the Democratic vote.
    — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of refused
Verb
  • In October, the Chinese government refuted claims that its baby diapers contained a toxic chemical called formamide and declared the products safe.
    — Jeff Marks,Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Some suggested that one or more stars might orbit Betelgeuse; others found no evidence for such companions or actively refuted their existence.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of refuted
Verb
  • She’s gotten used to trying, and trying again; while applying for fiction writing classes in college, Adeyemi says, she was rejected five semesters in a row.
    — Wisdom Iheanyichukwu, Vanity Fair, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The three Republicans on the court backed the proposal, arguing the poll sites were underutilized, while the two Democrats rejected it.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of rejected

Browse Nearby Words

disavowals
disavowed
disavowing
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Cite this Entry

“Disavowed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disavowed. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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