1
2
3
4

Synonym Chooser

How is the word repudiate different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of repudiate are decline, refuse, reject, and spurn. While all these words mean "to turn away by not accepting, receiving, or considering," repudiate implies a casting off or disowning as untrue, unauthorized, or unworthy of acceptance.

teenagers who repudiate the values of their parents

When can decline be used instead of repudiate?

The words decline and repudiate can be used in similar contexts, but decline often implies courteous refusal especially of offers or invitations.

declined his party's nomination

When is it sensible to use refuse instead of repudiate?

While in some cases nearly identical to repudiate, refuse suggests more positiveness or ungraciousness and often implies the denial of something asked for.

refused to lend them the money

Where would reject be a reasonable alternative to repudiate?

The words reject and repudiate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, reject implies a peremptory refusal by sending away or discarding.

rejected the manuscript as unpublishable

When is spurn a more appropriate choice than repudiate?

In some situations, the words spurn and repudiate are roughly equivalent. However, spurn stresses contempt or disdain in rejection or repudiation.

spurned his overtures of friendship

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 repudiate The way Zohran Mamdani—the son of an Indian-Ugandan Muslim scholar of Africa—has repudiated these values, along with his adherence to a cosmopolitan vision of peace and justice, guarantees extreme hostility to him among the Establishment. Pankaj Mishra, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025 Joe takes his accusations against Ted public; Louise repudiates them publicly. Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025 Thursday’s vote is what happens when pragmatism prevails, when adults make difficult decisions and when the borrow-and-spend ethos of this mayor and his team is repudiated. The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025 Mamdani’s rise and the failure of Democratic Party leaders to repudiate Mamdani’s antisemitic statements is accelerating a Jewish exit from the Democratic camp. Nathan Diament, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for repudiate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for repudiate
Verb
  • The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Rose has denied many of the allegations and the case is ongoing.
    Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • By refusing to specify details of the case, the government keeps the possibility alive of changing their reasoning or their claims to have the same effect for different reasons—just as the mob changes its reasoning for killing Cinna.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 23 Oct. 2025
  • If Taiwan refuses to capitulate in a quarantine or blockade, an invasion could follow.
    Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • At that meeting, Buchanan's reappointment to a full five-year term on the housing authority's board was rejected in a 6-2 decision, with two city directors absent.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Scholtes rejected a second-degree murder plea deal in March 2025 that would have resulted in a sentence of 10 to 25 years, according to previous reporting by The Arizona Republic.
    Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Hamas fired towards Israeli forces beyond the Yellow Line – the line behind which Israeli troops have withdrawn according to the ceasefire deal – in three separate incidents on Sunday, according to another military official.
    Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Afghanistan withdrew from a Twenty20 international tri-series in Pakistan following the deaths of three local cricketers, which the Afghanistan Cricket Board attributed to military strikes in Paktika province.
    Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In their letter Tuesday, Smith's attorneys sought to refute a narrative stemming from a document released by the FBI on the eve of Attorney General Pam Bondi's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month.
    Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Like Dunbar’s speakers, Hughes’s dispossessed have no way out, and the poem implicitly refutes optimism regarding the Great Migration and racial progress.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Contract options exercised for 4 The club exercised contract options on Stephen Afrifa, Zorhan Bassong, Jansen Miller and John Pulskamp, while declining options for Tim Leibold, Nemanja Radoja, Ryan Schewe, Shelton and Mason Toye.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025
  • However, her cousin the followed up, and the OP wrote back declining the invite.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • At the gubernatorial debate, Spanberger repeated her condemnation of the messages but refused to retract her endorsement of Jones, saying Jones is running his own race and voters should decide what to do with the information.
    Margaret Barthel, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The grounds crews can work on the grass sections in tight quarters underneath the concourses and get grow lamps on them even when they’re retracted.
    Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Royalist émigrés began to trickle back into the country in 1795, and a number of Jacobins who renounced their earlier radicalism were also reintegrated into civil society.
    Time, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Hamas members who renounce violence will be granted amnesty or safe passage, while those who continue resistance will be excluded from Gaza’s future governance.
    Morgan Phillips, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Repudiate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/repudiate. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on repudiate

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!