as in refusal
an unwillingness to grant something asked for
the request to use the restroom was just a formality—I really didn't expect a turndown
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to refuse
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
I'm afraid that I will have to turn down your invitation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of turndown
Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
Usually left on guests' beds during turndown service, the fabric sculptures can range from simple swans and bunnies to elaborate elephants, monkeys, or even sea creatures.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 3 Feb. 2026
In 2024, Jackson County voters turned down an extension of a 3/8-cent sales tax that would have been used to help fund a new baseball stadium and refurbish Arrowhead Stadium.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for turndown
Noun
By adapting this architecture specifically for hydrogen, the company claims to have achieved the highest current density and turndown ratios in the alkaline category.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
Usually left on guests' beds during turndown service, the fabric sculptures can range from simple swans and bunnies to elaborate elephants, monkeys, or even sea creatures.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
No one in the South will be able to turn down a slice of this special confection.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 3 Feb. 2026
In 2024, Jackson County voters turned down an extension of a 3/8-cent sales tax that would have been used to help fund a new baseball stadium and refurbish Arrowhead Stadium.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for turndown
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turndown
Noun
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The tension in Hines’s version lies in Bessette’s refusal to conform to the role.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
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And six in 10 view Republicans’ refusal to accept changes requested by Democrats negatively.—
Morgan Chalfant,
semafor.com,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Like Social Security and Medicare reform and the massive national debt, which is at $38 trillion and counting because Washington refuses to cut spending, despite record amounts of revenue flooding into the Treasury.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
17 Feb. 2026
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She is known for her perfectly coiffed buns; my baby hairs, on the other hand, refuse to fall in line.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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This proved to be the initial step on a path that eventually led to my rejection of the faith in which I’d been raised.—
Christopher Beha,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
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That rejection of redemption is precisely what makes these stories indispensable now.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a Gary man’s bid last week to cut his sentence for attacking multiple women.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
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Like in the case of Adam Hart, who rejected a digital verdict in order to protect a patient’s lungs, the ultimate value of the nurse in the age of AI may be not their ability to follow the prompt but their willingness to override it.—
Hilke Schellmann,
Scientific American,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The spiral of events that follow ups the pathos while quietly commenting on rigid patriarchal rules, male privilege, sanctimonious moral posturing, the denial of women’s bodily autonomy and contempt for otherness, things all still very much with us today.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Feb. 2026
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As her power-hungry characters go through the five stages of grief, denial is the hardest one to let go of.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The driver and bicyclist declined to be transported to the hospital, according to officials.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
6 Feb. 2026
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The sheriff declined to answer several questions, including one from a reporter who asked if there was a ransom demanded.—
Adam Sabes , Michael Ruiz , Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Part of our job as travel writers is to know when a deal is too good to pass up.—
Michelle Baricevic,
Travel + Leisure,
15 Feb. 2026
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Still, the trio may not want to pass up making Latin history again.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Turndown.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turndown. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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