as in refusing
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 turning down
Deep into stoppage time, fans vented their spleen at the sight of Dominik Szoboszlai turning down the chance to cross into the box, instead opting to pass sideways to Ibrahima Konate.
—
James Pearce, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
Born in Laurel, Mississippi, on November 29, 1935, Ladd was interested in acting from a young age, even turning down a college scholarship to pursue the craft.
—Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2025
Inside the virtual reality world, patients can interact with other people, walk throughout the house party or bar, and even practice turning down an offer of alcohol or drugs.
—Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Oct. 2025
Skarsgård has returned to play Pennywise, a villain that King fans agreed the actor embodied to perfection, after initially turning down the chance to continue the character.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025
But a chat message from Washington to a colleague, released to KUOW and ProPublica last week through a public records request, spells out additional reasons for turning down Daugaard’s proposal.
—Ashley Hiruko, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2025
In Georgia, a neonatal intensive care unit colleague who asked not to be named says parents are turning down Tylenol use for premature babies born with a heart condition that has long been successfully treated with the medication.
—Edith Bracho-Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025
Ament, 18, will soon begin his freshman season for the Tennessee Volunteers after turning down a multitude of suitors.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
At the time, she had also been accepted to Juilliard and considered turning down the role.
—Hannah Parry
amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
James Pearce, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
Born in Laurel, Mississippi, on November 29, 1935, Ladd was interested in acting from a young age, even turning down a college scholarship to pursue the craft.
—Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2025
Inside the virtual reality world, patients can interact with other people, walk throughout the house party or bar, and even practice turning down an offer of alcohol or drugs.
—Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Oct. 2025
Skarsgård has returned to play Pennywise, a villain that King fans agreed the actor embodied to perfection, after initially turning down the chance to continue the character.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025
But a chat message from Washington to a colleague, released to KUOW and ProPublica last week through a public records request, spells out additional reasons for turning down Daugaard’s proposal.
—Ashley Hiruko, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2025
In Georgia, a neonatal intensive care unit colleague who asked not to be named says parents are turning down Tylenol use for premature babies born with a heart condition that has long been successfully treated with the medication.
—Edith Bracho-Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025
Ament, 18, will soon begin his freshman season for the Tennessee Volunteers after turning down a multitude of suitors.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
At the time, she had also been accepted to Juilliard and considered turning down the role.
—Hannah Parry
amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turning down
Verb
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Trump has criticized Powell repeatedly during his first year back in the White House ‒ threatening to try to fire him from the board of the independent agency ‒ for refusing to lower interest rates.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
30 Jan. 2026
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The president and first lady — who met in college and shared two children, Mary and Russell — were uneasy about the light switches, refusing to touch them and leaving the task up to White House staff.—
Paloma Chavez,
PEOPLE,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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After two votes rejecting a contract in December, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board is bringing back a controversial custodial company to restore cleaning services to Northwest schools.—
Bri Hatch,
Chalkbeat,
30 Jan. 2026
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However, a magistrate judge who reviewed the evidence last week approved charges against only three individuals, rejecting the evidence against Lemon and the others as insufficient.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The company‘s core broadband business continues declining as customers abandon cable for wireless 5G alternatives.—
Meg James,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
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Arnaout believes the absence of Maher took a mental toll on Wael which led to his health declining.—
Nicquel Terry Ellis,
CNN Money,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But Schottenheimer’s reason for frequently passing up field goals for touchdowns had some logic behind it.—
Tim Cowlishaw,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Jan. 2026
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Wembanyama has been passing up many reasonable 3-point looks in the preseason and only taking wide-open ones.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The zone-heavy Chargers forced Hurts to beat them by throwing over the middle — a region Hurts attacks half as often as his peers — and Hurts was inconsistent.—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And then — a half-inning after Rojas’ throw — almost the same scenario played out in the top of the 10th, with Andrés Giménez throwing out Mookie Betts to (for the time being) keep the Dodgers from taking the lead.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
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It has been played at multiple Dodger games, and Lamar is known for representing the city of Los Angeles, throwing out the first pitch at a Dodger game before and sporting their signature baseball cap.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Turning down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turning%20down. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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