as in refused
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
I'm afraid that I will have to turn down your invitation
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Recent Examples of turned down
Quarterback Drew Allar, the talented running backs and others turned down the NFL.
—
Chris Vannini, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
Netanyahu, meanwhile, stands accused of having repeatedly turned down earlier deals with Hamas to appease extreme elements within his fragile coalition government.
—Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
Dreja turned down the offer to focus on building his photography career, and ended up shooting the back cover photo on Led Zeppelin.
—Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 3 Oct. 2025
We'd been nominated so many times before, and we'd been turned down all those times.
—Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3 Oct. 2025
Rob Lowe turned down his Comedy Central roast four times.
—Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2025
Most of those variance requests were turned down, including Struve and Unger’s.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 23 Sep. 2025
Exxon made the big oil discovery in the Stabroek Block in 2015 after Chevron and many other oil producers turned down the opportunity to invest in exploration, and emerged as the operator and 45% owner of the development.
—Jordan Blum, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
And in March the justices turned down a request by Republican attorneys general to stop climate lawsuits filed by states including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Rhode Island.
—Michael Copley, NPR, 19 Sep. 2025
Chris Vannini, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
Netanyahu, meanwhile, stands accused of having repeatedly turned down earlier deals with Hamas to appease extreme elements within his fragile coalition government.
—Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
Dreja turned down the offer to focus on building his photography career, and ended up shooting the back cover photo on Led Zeppelin.
—Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 3 Oct. 2025
We'd been nominated so many times before, and we'd been turned down all those times.
—Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3 Oct. 2025
Rob Lowe turned down his Comedy Central roast four times.
—Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2025
Most of those variance requests were turned down, including Struve and Unger’s.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 23 Sep. 2025
Exxon made the big oil discovery in the Stabroek Block in 2015 after Chevron and many other oil producers turned down the opportunity to invest in exploration, and emerged as the operator and 45% owner of the development.
—Jordan Blum, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
And in March the justices turned down a request by Republican attorneys general to stop climate lawsuits filed by states including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Rhode Island.
—Michael Copley, NPR, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turned down
Verb
-
In the lead-up to the tournament, Argentina had played a series of friendlies without him, since Valencia refused to release him.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Geri refused to leave the premises, according to authorities, and was arrested without incident.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Not in the response from the armed Palestinian group were other provisions detailing Gaza's future, including some Hamas has long rejected.—
Susan Page,
USA Today,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Sancho rejected a contract offer at Manchester City to join Dortmund in 2017.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The carmaker may announce in the coming weeks about $5 billion in fresh money on top of a similar amount earmarked earlier in the year, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing information that’s not public.—
Gabrielle Coppola,
Fortune,
4 Oct. 2025
-
But overall crime has declined, including a 30% drop in homicides, the mayor’s office said.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The year before, she had been passed up for the lead role in the movie adaptation of My Fair Lady, which went to Audrey Hepburn, pictured.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
1 Oct. 2025
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On both plays, Maye passed up safer choices — taking a sack and a checkdown — to scramble; chasing the type of extended play that had just rewarded him, but ultimately burned his team.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Turned down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turned%20down. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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