1
as in denying
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 refusing
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 disowning
The pastor approaches the line without fully disenchanting; a magician drawing attention to the trick without disowning its power.
—
Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
Emails published on the Mail on Sunday revealed Ferguson apologized to Epstein weeks after publicly disowning him, back in 2011.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 30 Nov. 2025
Extended family members of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller are disowning him, according to his cousin.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Maximum Overdrive, the only movie that King directed, is eligible… but King himself joined the chorus of harsh critics, disowning it and never again returning to the director’s chair .
—James Grebey, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
Emails published on the Mail on Sunday revealed Ferguson apologized to Epstein weeks after publicly disowning him, back in 2011.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 30 Nov. 2025
Extended family members of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller are disowning him, according to his cousin.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Maximum Overdrive, the only movie that King directed, is eligible… but King himself joined the chorus of harsh critics, disowning it and never again returning to the director’s chair .
—James Grebey, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disowning
Verb
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Seniors can go to virtually any doctor (since nearly all doctors accept traditional Medicare) and receive whatever care their doctor orders (since there is no insurance company denying coverage).—
Marianne Pizzitola,
New York Daily News,
31 Jan. 2026
-
The White House referred the Miami Herald to a statement on the DOJ website, denying any credibility in any accusations against the president.—
Claire Healy,
Miami Herald,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Trump has criticized Powell repeatedly during his first year back in the White House ‒ threatening to try to fire him from the board of the independent agency ‒ for refusing to lower interest rates.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
30 Jan. 2026
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The president and first lady — who met in college and shared two children, Mary and Russell — were uneasy about the light switches, refusing to touch them and leaving the task up to White House staff.—
Paloma Chavez,
PEOPLE,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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After two votes rejecting a contract in December, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board is bringing back a controversial custodial company to restore cleaning services to Northwest schools.—
Bri Hatch,
Chalkbeat,
30 Jan. 2026
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However, a magistrate judge who reviewed the evidence last week approved charges against only three individuals, rejecting the evidence against Lemon and the others as insufficient.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The plethora of fourth-quarter collapses offers refuting evidence.—
Sam McDowell
January 27,
Kansas City Star,
27 Jan. 2026
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Being true to those principles matters more than refuting a talking point from any pundit or any bulletin-board material spouted by any rival.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disowning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disowning. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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