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Glite Dictionary
🚫 To reject 🚫 A sharp refusal 🛡️ To drive back
to rebuff

to rebuff

3 7.9
To drive back an attack or enemy force
  • verb
  • /rɪˈbʌf/
translation icon : repeler
  • The court also rebuffed the nonsettlors' request for an evidentiary hearing.
  • rebuffed attempts
  • rebuffed efforts

Examples

  • The first was to rebuff terrorism.

    Academic text (2018)

  • In its fateful decision to vote against the treaty, the United States complained of having been rebuffed on two issues.

    Academic text (1998)

  • In the United States, it has been rebuffed by the government time and time again.

    Blog text (8)

  • FBI efforts to win greater surveillance powers had also been largely rebuffed.

    Academic text (2003)

  • So far, Polygram has been rebuffed in its very public attempts to have this application approved.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The United States sought to involve Latin American states in the Korean War and was generally rebuffed.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Meanwhile, Israel could rely on her soldiers, as she had amply illustrated, to rebuff all intruders.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The government still needs to negotiate billions in privately held debt, and initial offers have been strongly rebuffed.

    Academic text (2004)

  • But it was a majority of the Senate that rebuffed Bork, not the ABA.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The soldiers stood ready to rebuff any attack from the enemy forces.

Synonyms

to counter
vsto rebuff
190 4.3

To respond by acting against something

is a direct act of forcing back rather than a strategic response
to fight back
vsto rebuff
188 3.3

Resist an attack or criticism by responding

involves driving back attackers rather than simply striking back
to push back
vsto rebuff
97 3.9

Force a person or thing to move backward in body and feeling

focuses more on repelling attacks than general resistance or pressure
to deflect
vsto rebuff
76 4.6

To turn attention away from a person or thing

means to push back directly rather than just diverting its path
to fight off
vsto rebuff
51 3.7

To keep away an attack, illness, or strong unwanted feeling

emphasizes the act of forcing back rather than personal success
to fend off
vsto rebuff
34 3.9

Keep unwanted people or things away so they do not harm you

is more about actively driving back rather than passive protection
to repel
vsto rebuff
21 4.2

Make someone or something move back and stay away, often by using force

shares essentially the same meaning of driving back attackers
to drive back
vsto rebuff
19 4.1

Force someone or something to move away from danger

is the general action of forcing back, not only in attacks
to beat back
vsto rebuff
14 6.0

To force someone or something to move away

is the broader act of driving back rather than the struggle itself
to force back
vsto rebuff
10 4.9

Make people or things move backward by using strength and stop feelings by holding them back

covers forcing back in both physical and nonphysical situations
to repulse
vsto rebuff
7 7.0

To make someone or something go away

is the more general verb focusing on driving back forcefully

How Forceful

to overwhelm
42 4.0
to rebuff
3 7.9

Surface Forms

rebuff infinitive
rebuffed past
rebuffed past participle
rebuffing present participle
rebuffs third person singular

Morphology

rebuff = buff (opaque) = re + buff

The literal sense comes from re- + 'buff' 'blow', but 'buff' is not a productive modern base, so the meaning is not readily recoverable for learners.

Etymology

The verb rebuff can also mean to drive an attack back, keeping the same idea of re- 'back' and buff 'a push or blow', so to rebuff an enemy is to force it away or repel it.