as in refuses
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
fiercely independent, the elderly couple spurned all offers of financial help
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Recent Examples of spurns
Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Verb
As the President insults allies, woos dictators, and spurns long-standing commitments, Rubio has to convince his counterparts that America will not entirely abandon its friends.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurns
Verb
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If at a certain point the person refuses to cooperate, recruiters resort to blackmail, Andriy said, threatening to hand over the correspondence to the SBU.—
Daria Tarasova-Markina,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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Nearly six years later, Donovan still refuses to feed into this narrative surrounding his exit from Oklahoma City and his expectations in Chicago.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But Balzano rejects the idea that fast development automatically conflicts with automotive reliability.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
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Gentry rejects the notion that there are more Hancevilles out there, their scandals hidden for now.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the population ages and the number of college students declines, institutions of higher education are actively cultivating a crop of midlife and older students.—
Allison Aubrey,
NPR,
9 Feb. 2026
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Ed Setzler declines to run to replace Barry Loudermilk.—
Adam Beam,
AJC.com,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Importantly, the survey also points to a potential de-escalator that Carlson ignores.—
Robert Pape,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
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If someone ignores your text, try asking a follow-up question (or calling them, because tone may travel poorly over screens).—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spurns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurns. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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