1
as in to deny
to declare not to be true
he steadfastly disowned that he was having an affair
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to refuse
to refuse to acknowledge as one's own or as one's responsibility
the dictatorial father angrily disowned his rebellious son
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disown
Despite his regular attempts to disown it, the Ukraine war has very much become Trump’s war on which US credibility now hangs by a thread.
—
Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 2 June 2025
Related Stories Will Forte Is Willing to Climb Mount Everest to Promote ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ After Looney Tunes Film Was Saved
Khan plays Rehan Roy, a notorious jewel thief working successfully abroad after his father (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) disowned him for his career choice.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 25 Apr. 2025
Civil rights activists were assassinated, beaten, betrayed by friends, tortured in jail and disowned by their families.
—John Blake, CNN, 19 Jan. 2025
Spider-Man 3 (2007) A botch job of oppositional motivations practically disowned by its own director, the messiest Spider-Man movie is a near-constant tonal misfire, simultaneously more serious than its predecessors and more willfully goofy.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disown
Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 2 June 2025
Related Stories Will Forte Is Willing to Climb Mount Everest to Promote ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ After Looney Tunes Film Was Saved
Khan plays Rehan Roy, a notorious jewel thief working successfully abroad after his father (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) disowned him for his career choice.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 25 Apr. 2025
Civil rights activists were assassinated, beaten, betrayed by friends, tortured in jail and disowned by their families.
—John Blake, CNN, 19 Jan. 2025
Spider-Man 3 (2007) A botch job of oppositional motivations practically disowned by its own director, the messiest Spider-Man movie is a near-constant tonal misfire, simultaneously more serious than its predecessors and more willfully goofy.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disown
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disown
Verb
-
All three Cabinet members denied wrongdoing.—
Robert Faturechi,
ProPublica,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Judge Gary Arnold denied the motion Thursday morning.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Anisimova dialed in, desperately refusing to give Osaka any openings.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
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The airline reserves the right to refuse transportation to plus-size passengers who cannot be safely accommodated.—
Zach Wichter,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Several world leaders have already rejected the plan and insisted that the only solution is the creation of a Palestinian state once Hamas hands over the hostages and a new Palestinian government takes over.—
Michele Chabin,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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Shi seemed confident that Strand Larsen, who was keen to join Newcastle United before the deadline, will knuckle down despite Wolves rejecting two bids.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That backup has since grown into a hundreds-strong campaign to refute the DHS allegations, which supporters call a resurgence of anti-Muslim fearmongering that has persisted across party lines since the 9/11 attacks 24 years ago this month.—
Hannah Allam,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
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Days after the hearing, the leader of the Pentagon's office to investigate UFOs provided testimony of his own refuting some of the claims.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disown.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disown. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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