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View synonyms for deny

deny

[ dih-nahy ]

verb (used with object)

, de·nied, de·ny·ing.
  1. to state that (something declared or believed to be true) is not true:

    to deny an accusation.

    Synonyms: gainsay, oppose, controvert, dispute

    Antonyms: concede, accept, admit

  2. to refuse to agree or accede to:

    to deny a petition.

  3. to withhold the possession, use, or enjoyment of:

    to deny access to secret information.

    Antonyms: allow

  4. to withhold something from, or refuse to grant a request of:

    to deny a beggar.

  5. to refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disown; disavow; repudiate:

    to deny one's gods.

    Synonyms: abjure, renounce

  6. to withhold (someone) from accessibility to a visitor:

    The secretary denied his employer to all those without appointments.

  7. Obsolete. to refuse to take or accept.


deny

/ dɪˈnaɪ /

verb

  1. to declare (an assertion, statement, etc) to be untrue

    he denied that he had killed her

  2. to reject as false; refuse to accept or believe
  3. to withhold; refuse to give
  4. to refuse to fulfil the requests or expectations of

    it is hard to deny a child

  5. to refuse to acknowledge or recognize; disown; disavow

    the baron denied his wicked son

  6. to refuse (oneself) things desired


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Other Words From

  • de·ny·ing·ly adverb
  • pre·de·ny verb (used with object) predenied predenying
  • re·de·ny verb (used with object) redenied redenying

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Word History and Origins

Origin of deny1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English denien, from Old French denier, from Latin dēnegāre; denegation

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Word History and Origins

Origin of deny1

C13: from Old French denier, from Latin dēnegāre, from negāre

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. deny oneself, to refrain from satisfying one's desires or needs; practice self-denial.

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Synonym Study

Deny, contradict both imply objecting to or arguing against something. To deny is to say that something is not true: to deny an allegation. To contradict is to declare that the contrary is true: to contradict a statement.

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Example Sentences

A Pentagon spokesperson didn’t deny Garrison’s pending appointment but said, “Bishop Garrison is not, as of right now, an employee of the DoD, so we will not comment on that.”

From Vox

Snyder and Michael have denied any knowledge of the videos, copies of which were obtained by The Post.

Cuban denied to The Post a report from the Athletic, the first to break the story, that the organization had decided not to play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the American Airlines Center moving forward.

Stebbins has denied any wrongdoing and has filed a wrongful termination suit against the agency.

Steve Schmidt, in a phone interview last week with the Blade, denied the Lincoln Project had “any knowledge of any misconduct by John Weaver” until January.

Of course, to call out pinkwashing is not to deny the facts.

Through a spokesperson, Klaus does not deny that he and Cato parted ways.

In any case, the narrative resonance of all this is impossible to deny.

Representatives of both Dr. Luke and Lady Gaga were quick to deny these allegations.

But ISIS sympathizers quickly took to social media to deny the story.

For my part, I scarcely know what to say; inasmuch as I do not care either to affirm or deny a thing of which I have no proof.

Now, a different plan it might have been; but one leading to a more satisfactory result, I must take the liberty to deny.

If Paul ever lived, which none can prove and many deny, his evidence for the Resurrection was only hearsay evidence.

No one could deny that Government had yielded in the face of noisy clamor and forcible resistance.

The Company, we understand, strenuously deny the necessity of these alternatives.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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