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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disowning
In September 2025, it was revealed that Ferguson sent an email to Epstein apologizing for publicly disowning him in a March 2011 interview with the Evening Standard.
—
Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 3 Feb. 2026
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
Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 3 Feb. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disowning
Verb
-
In Uthmeier’s mind, the world is unfairly denying white men careers as head coaches and coffeehouse baristas.—
Scott Maxwell,
Sun Sentinel,
9 May 2026
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In effectively denying the zoning measures sought by the county, the planning board on Wednesday reversed course on a previous 2018 approval by the same body, though with some different members, of essentially the same county plan.—
Andres Viglucci,
Miami Herald,
8 May 2026
Verb
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Strickland then mocked Chimaev for refusing to fight in the parking lot.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
8 May 2026
-
Baldoni later accused a trio of other insurers of breach of contract for refusing to cover litigation costs.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
7 May 2026
Verb
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Washington and some other states, however, started rejecting licensure applicants or revoking nurses with diplomas from those schools even before the investigation was made public.—
Annie Martin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 May 2026
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Some families are also rejecting the eye ointment.—
Duaa Eldeib,
CNN Money,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
That’s not refuting the secrecy.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
23 Apr. 2026
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Amidst the other claims, this one has hit hard at Beast Industries, and the company got quite personal in refuting it.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disowning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disowning. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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