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Glite Dictionary
🌌 Sky position angle ⛰️ A downward slope 🙅 A formal refusal 📉 A gradual decline
declination

declination

1 8.7
A polite refusal of an invitation or offer
  • noun
  • /ˌdɛklɪˈneɪʃən/
  • Formal
translation icon : rechazo
  • I received a polite letter of declination when I invited her to the party.

Examples

  • In order to qualify for free and reduced lunch in this school district, the caretakers of the students attending the school, seeking to qualify for free and reduced lunch, filled out a form that was then reviewed for acceptance or declination of free and reduced lunch.

    Academic text (2006)

  • After careful consideration, she sent a declination to their invitation for the wedding.

  • A person can appeal the declination, but the process takes forever to get through.

    Blog text (28)

  • His declination of the job offer surprised us all because it was a great opportunity.

Synonyms

refusal
vsdeclination
122 1.4

An act of saying you will not accept or agree to something

is specifically a polite formal no rather than a blunt rejection
turndown
vsdeclination
3 4.6

A refusal of an offer or request

is used politely and formally for invitations or offers
rebuff
vsdeclination
3 7.7

A sharp refusal of an offer or request

is a polite formal way to say no rather than abrupt rejection
regrets
vsdeclination
  • Formal
1 3.5

A polite message saying sorry for not being able to go to an event

is a formal polite way to say no rather than a brief message
denegation
vsdeclination
  • Archaic
9.9

Saying that something is not true or refusing a request

is a polite formal no focused on offers and invitations

Antonyms

acceptance
104 2.7

Being approved or welcomed by other people

Compounds

magnetic declination
  • Specialized
6.7

The angle between the direction a compass points and true north at a place

How Accepting

acceptance
104 2.7
acquiescence
11 8.5
declination
  • Formal
1 8.7
refusal
122 1.4

Surface Forms

declination singular
declinations plural

Morphology

declination = decline (transparent) = decline + ation

Standard nominalization of the verb 'decline' meaning 'to refuse', so 'declination' = 'an act of refusing' is predictable.

Etymology

Declination comes from Latin de- 'away' and clinare 'to bend', so it literally means a 'turning away'. A helpful way to remember is that to decline an invitation is to turn away from it, so a declination is a polite refusal.