disowned

verb

past tense of disown
1
as in denied
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 refused
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

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 disowned Offensive chants have not always been drowned out or disowned in the UK, Europe and beyond. — Patrick Iversen, New York Times, 6 July 2026 That candidate, Bushra Amiwala, disowned the support and condemned the ad, widely seen as an attempt to siphon voters from another young progressive, Kat Abughazaleh. — David Daley, Chicago Tribune, 31 Mar. 2026 Glen Powell plays a charming guy disowned by his wealthy family when he was born. — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2026 When Mary won’t give up the baby, she’s disowned by patriarch Whitelaw (Ed Harris) and exiled to New Jersey from her family’s palatial Long Island estate. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Feb. 2026 Becket is broke, disowned and circling a family fortune that never wanted him. — Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 18 Feb. 2026 They may be cut off from financial resources, disowned, or stripped of personal property and communal safety nets. — Literary Hub, 18 Feb. 2026 At the end of her remarks Monday, McCarthy told the court that Mykkanen’s family has disowned Garner. — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2026 Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. — CBS News, 20 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disowned
  1. denied
  2. refused
  3. rejected
  4. refuted
Verb
  • Jones has repeatedly denied the allegations since he was arrested in 2024.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The former FedEx driver who was sentenced to death in May for the capital murder of 7-year-old Wise County girl Athena Strand has had his request for a new trial denied.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of denied
Verb
  • In February, Trump appointee Vinay Prasad—a Kennedy ally—refused to even review the vaccine, despite objections from FDA staff and career officials, shocking Moderna and the larger biomedical community.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Thursday's vote was along party lines, and came after Fauci refused to answer lawmakers' questions in a hearing last week about the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.
    — Eric McDaniel, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of refused
Verb
  • Crump has also rejected notions from law enforcement officials that Wells may have drowned, citing the teenager’s ability to swim well and his athletic past.
    — Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Florida Crystals consistently rejected those criticisms, saying the company complied with environmental regulations, invested heavily in conservation and upheld labor standards.
    — Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of rejected
Verb
  • Players from that 1951 side have strongly refuted the story, while the priest at its centre has never been identified.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 27 July 2026
  • The country's health minister, David Kershenobich, refuted the FDA's assertion on July 21.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 22 July 2026
Definition of refuted

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disown
disowned
disowning
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Cite this Entry

“Disowned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disowned. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on disowned

Nglish: Translation of disowned for Spanish Speakers

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