disowning

verb

present participle of disown
1
as in denying
to declare not to be true he steadfastly disowned that he was having an affair

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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

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 disowning Hong Kong's stablecoin licensing further illustrates this, approving only HKD tokens while publicly disowning any CNH stablecoin claims. — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 The platforms that helped usher in the generative AI boom are now trying to clean up the mess without disowning the technology behind it. — Angela Yang, NBC news, 8 Aug. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disowning
  1. denying
  2. refusing
  3. rejecting
  4. refuting
Verb
  • His second confrontation is with an angry, judgmental version of Original Vision who accuses him of cowardice and inaction for denying his identity for so long.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2026
  • At least twice a year, my doctor would be on the phone yelling at an insurance company for denying coverage.
    — Mariska Breland, STAT, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of denying
Verb
  • That same day, another federal district judge in a separate case in California barred DOJ from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution for refusing to stop processing ballots or resisting other demands.
    — Dan Mangan,Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Tanner McKee looked like a backup all night, holding the ball, taking sacks, refusing to throw downfield and turning the ball over twice.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of refusing
Verb
  • Idahoans were on track to keep the keys to the state’s drug policy Tuesday evening, with two-thirds of voters rejecting a measure that would take the future legalization of marijuana out of their hands.
    — Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment strengthening the state’s most visible form of direct democracy, months after overwhelmingly rejecting a proposal that would weaken it.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • OpenAI’s proof provides an algorithm to solve 3-SAT that is just a tiny bit faster than exponential time, refuting ETH.
    — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Also on Sunday, Dan Levy shared his own video refuting Gillis’ claims.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of refuting

Browse Nearby Words

disowned
disowning
disownment
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Disowning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disowning. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wabi-sabi

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All