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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That ire has only grown as Takaichi repeatedly refuses to walk back her position, and scooped up a historic victory in a snap election because of it.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Apr. 2026
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But what elevates the play into something truly great is that Lindsay-Abaire refuses to make Elliott a conventional villain.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The former plantation rejects the rosy antebellum view, focusing instead on slavery’s horrors.—
Catherine Garcia,
TheWeek,
21 Apr. 2026
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Iran rejects the prospect of negotiations being conducted under pressure or aimed at Tehran surrendering, the the Iranian official told Reuters.—
Kevin Breuninger,
CNBC,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the same time, the USPS has become increasingly dependent on package delivery as first-class mail declines, making large customers like Amazon even more important.—
Barbara Booth,
CNBC,
19 Apr. 2026
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Brandenburg-Koch declines to talk specifically about the Busfield case.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
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That critique also conveniently ignores how much of the existing media landscape was built on government largesse.—
Julian Baron,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Apr. 2026
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In other words, the life-writer cannot take a doggedly factual approach that ignores a whole layer of emotional and imaginative experience.—
Sara Wheeler,
Big Think,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spurns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurns. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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