English Dictionary
Definition of “deny”
deny (dɪˈnaɪ
)
Definitions
verb
(tr) - to declare (an assertion, statement, etc) to be untrue ⇒
he denied that he had killed her
- to reject as false; refuse to accept or believe
- to withhold; refuse to give
- to refuse to fulfil the requests or expectations of ⇒
it is hard to deny a child
- to refuse to acknowledge or recognize; disown; disavow ⇒
the baron denied his wicked son
- to refuse (oneself) things desired
Word Origin
C13: from Old French denier, from Latin dēnegāre, from negāre
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
renounce,
reject,
discard,
revoke,
retract,
repudiate,
renege,
disown,
rebut,
disavow,
recant,
disclaim,
abjure,
abnegate,
refuse to acknowledge or recognize=
refuse,
decline,
forbid,
reject,
rule out,
veto,
turn down,
prohibit,
withhold,
preclude,
disallow,
negate,
begrudge,
interdict,
Translations
- British English:
deny
If you deny something, you say that it is not true.She denied both accusations.dɪˈnaɪ VERB She denied both accusations.
- Spanish:
negar
v
- French:
nier
vt
- German:
bestreiten
v
- Chinese: 否认 v
- Arabic: يُنْكِرُ v
- Portuguese: negar v
- Russian: отрицать v
- Croatian: nijekati v
- Czech: popřít v popírat
- Danish: nægte v
- Dutch: ontkennen v
- Finnish: kieltää v
- Greek: διαψεύδω v
- Italian: negare v
- Japanese: 否定する v
- Korean: 부정하다 v
- Norwegian: nekte v
- Polish: zaprzeczyć v zaprzeczać
- Brazilian Portuguese: negar v
- European Spanish:
negar
v
- Swedish: förneka v
- Thai: ปฏิเสธ v
- Turkish: inkar etmek v
- Vietnamese: phủ nhận v
Usage examples
My instinct was to laugh uncertainly, offer reassurance, deny the obvious.
Stuart Harrison, BETTER THAN THIS (2002)However, such an attack can only deny access to the network - it will not enable hackers to access user's data or computers.
New Scientist (2004)A spokeswoman for the Department of Finance would neither confirm nor deny the impending appointment.
Globe and Mail (2003)A spokesman for Viasystems in the north-east last night refused to deny or confirm Grahame's claims.
Glasgow Herald (2001)One way of dealing with such a situation is to deny that it exists.
Dorothy Rowe, BEYOND FEAR (2002)
