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

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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

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 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
  • This has been compounded by massive cuts in international aid and a Taliban government that has sidelined half of Afghanistan’s population, denying women and girls education beyond primary school and banning them from the vast majority of jobs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
  • Similar restrictions have been challenged elsewhere, including in Georgia, where a federal judge ruled that denying hormone therapy to incarcerated people violated the Eighth Amendment.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 8 July 2026
Definition of denying
Verb
  • The discipline is refusing to play the obvious one, which is accepting the first answer.
    — Terry Oroszi, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
  • This season,, Sanders is and refusing to look ahead when asked about the team’s first two Big 12 games against Baylor and the league’s defending champions, Texas Tech.
    — Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 July 2026
Definition of refusing
Verb
  • El-Sayed has built his campaign around bold policy proposals, rejecting corporate PAC money and casting himself as an alternative to the status quo of the Democratic Party.
    — Joey Cappelletti, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • Kalshi lost an attempt to override New York’s state gambling laws yesterday, with a federal judge rejecting the prediction market operator’s request to prevent enforcement of the rules.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 8 July 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • The Whitney Houston estate is refuting Oprah Winfrey recalling that the late singer was high and fell off the stage during an appearance on her talk show.
    — Marc Malkin, Variety, 24 June 2026
  • Two other retired judges later published their own piece refuting Gilliard’s contention.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 14 June 2026
Definition of refuting

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disowned
disowning
disownment
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Cite this Entry

“Disowning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disowning. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on disowning

Nglish: Translation of disowning for Spanish Speakers

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