rebuff 1 of 2

Definition of rebuffnext
as in dismissal
treatment that is deliberately unfriendly took her rebuff in stride, and still greeted her cousin with a friendly smile the next time they met

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

rebuff

2 of 2

verb

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 rebuff
Noun
The latest rebuff of state overreach was the dismissal last week of the highly questionable felony case against respected Waukegan City Clerk Janet Kilkelly brought by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026 Braced by that humiliating rebuff, the Service wasted no time in getting serious and rallying around reform. Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 8 Jan. 2026
Verb
Tess, who's on the bus rebuffing yet another apology from Orson, spots Jamison walking by. Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 1 June 2026 The president’s budget request has repeatedly proposed cutting the NSF’s budget by more than half, which so far have been rebuffed by Congress. Shalin Jyotishi, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for rebuff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebuff
Noun
  • The two seasons of the podcast have drawn national attention to the dismissal of women’s pain.
    Leo Barraclough, Variety, 9 July 2026
  • The department then request a GBI investigation on June 25, 2026, leading to the arrests and dismissal of the officers.
    Irene Wright, USA Today, 8 July 2026
Verb
  • And many of the best and brightest scientists and researchers spurned by America are going to other countries and are hired by businesses abroad that compete with our own—including, as Lee anticipated, China.
    Robert Hormats, Time, 4 July 2026
  • Beulah's spurned heir Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) calls up the mysterious Mariana (Raoul Max Trujillo) to help with his many problems, which include his ranch-usurping half-brother Rob-Will and those Duttons from Montana.
    Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Noun
  • Some of the snubs were just as notable and tell a different story.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 8 July 2026
  • However, one of the biggest snubs of the year was Cailee Spaeny, who plays Ashley in the show.
    Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
Verb
  • The finale ended with Carter being hauled off in a van by the family that Beulah scorned when going into business with the Duttons.
    Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 6 July 2026
  • That sent a chill through a fan base that has been scorned many times by some of the organization’s top players.
    Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 1 July 2026
Noun
  • Larger than life, his creation repulses and torments him, and Victor spends the rest of his life both running from it and trying to destroy it.
    Ann Kowal Smith, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
  • The optical, stop-motion, and puppetry effects alone should make Brain Damage a priority on your watchlist, but Henenlotter’s film excites and repulses on a deeper level.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
Verb
  • The title character disdains the common folk, and the play’s complicated political discussion and harsh, jagged poetry aren’t what most picnicking playgoers are after.
    Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Raised in a household of voracious readers in suburban Philadelphia, her father a professor of Spanish at the University of Pennsylvania and her mother having worked for magazines, Sebold disdained the university’s frat culture.
    Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
Noun
  • Trump’s rejection of the bipartisan housing legislation exacerbates tensions with his own party in a midterm election year and cuts short their efforts to address a key voter concern about rising costs.
    Michelle L. Price, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
  • And from faculty lounges today comes a gigantic rejection of the Humphrey-to-Obama synthesis.
    David Brooks, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
Verb
  • Critics see it as another attempt to breathe life into claims that courts, investigators and election officials have repeatedly rejected — and another corrosive attempt to undermine faith in the state’s vote.
    Adam Beam, AJC.com, 6 July 2026
  • Questioning, if not rejecting, established Christian doctrine, Ahab also comes to regard Moby Dick as the outward and visible sign, the physical embodiment of the indifference or, worse, utter malignity inherent in the universe.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026

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“Rebuff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebuff. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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