gainsaid

verb

past tense of gainsay
1
as in denied
to declare not to be true it can't be gainsaid that most people wish they had more time and money

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in contradicted
to make an assertion that is contrary to one made by (another) repeatedly tried to gainsay me, though every point I made was backed up by facts

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gainsaid
  1. denied
  2. contradicted
  3. refuted
  4. rejected
Verb
  • Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Clancy’s defense files an emergency appeal to further question the holdout juror, but the appeal is denied.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of denied
Verb
  • Mickelson hired defamation attorney Tom Clare, who said video evidence contradicted the allegations.
    — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Supporters of the three men said the allegations were baseless and contradicted by documentary evidence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of contradicted
Verb
  • At the root of it all is negligence, which is refuted and embodied by our challenging heroine.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 24 Sep. 2026
  • On September 16, a statement from Buckingham Palace (per People) refuted Spencer’s assertions.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of refuted
Verb
  • Their case was previously rejected by the district court and appeals court.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Meta, a week ago, rejected, then reversed course on an ad for Alex Gibney’s doc takedown Musk, and now a studio is about to weigh in on Meta.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of rejected
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.

Browse Nearby Words

gains
gainsaid
gainsay
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Gainsaid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gainsaid. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of etiquette

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

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

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

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

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All