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Glite Dictionary
🙅 To say no 🚫 To not accept 🍌 Food waste ❓ To resist understanding 🩺 To reject tissue
to refuse

to refuse

46 1.7
To say you do not believe something is true
  • verb
  • /rɪˈfjuz/
: negar
  • I refuse to believe that.
  • refuse to accept
  • refuse to acknowledge

As Robin Blazer puts it, the serial poem quote refuses to adopt an imposed storyline.

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Examples

  • Troops ordered to disperse the crowds refused and joined the protesters instead.

  • She will refuse any invitation that conflicts with her schedule.

  • We can refuse to think certain thoughts.

  • Perhaps as a reaction, other people refuse to think about it at all.

    Academic text (2015)

  • It's clear that he knows the Word, but what he refuses to do is listen to God.

  • The main reason given by those who refused to participate was time constraint.

    Academic text (2012)

  • It's a hope that does not ignore dangers, but refuses to see only the dangers.

  • He refuses to spend money on media, saying, "Candidates are not products."

    Man of the Year (2006)

  • Throughout, the management maintained a hostile stance, refusing to deal seriously with the demands of the fans.

    Academic text (2017)

  • I refuse to accept that his version of the story is correct.

Synonyms

to deny
vsto refuse
∞ 2.0

To say that something is not true

is about saying or showing nonacceptance of truth or correctness
to disagree
vsto refuse
∞ 1.0

Have a different opinion from someone

is stronger, showing explicit nonacceptance of a claim rather than opinion
to reject
vsto refuse
760 1.9

Refuse to accept someone or something

is focused on saying or showing nonacceptance or disbelief
to dismiss
vsto refuse
296 3.0

To refuse to accept an idea or claim

is about saying or showing nonacceptance rather than ignoring worth
to disavow
vsto refuse
  • Formal
35 7.7

To say you are not responsible for or connected to something

is about saying or showing nonacceptance of truth, not responsibility
to discredit
vsto refuse
32 5.6

To say that something is not true or trustworthy

is the general act of saying no to a claim rather than attacking trust
to repudiate
vsto refuse
  • Formal
31 8.2

To refuse to accept or be linked to something

is more general, covering ordinary saying or showing nonacceptance
to disbelieve
vsto refuse
15 4.7

To not accept that something is true

is broader, covering saying or showing nonacceptance of a claim
to abjure
vsto refuse
  • Formal
3 9.9

To give up a belief or support publicly under pressure

is about saying or showing nonacceptance rather than ritual renouncing

Antonyms

to accept
996 1.3

To believe or agree that something is true

to acknowledge
659 3.8

To admit that something is true or real

Idioms

offer he couldn't refuse
  • Informal
1 4.9

A deal so good a person cannot say no to

Compounds

refuse collector
  • UK
1 3.1

A person who collects and takes away rubbish from homes and businesses

refuse heap
1 4.5

A pile of rubbish left outside in one place

How Accepting

to accept
996 1.3
to doubt
∞ 1.3
to refuse
46 1.7
to reject
760 1.9
to deny
∞ 2.0

Surface Forms

refuse infinitive
refused past
refused past participle
refusing present participle
refuses third person singular

Etymology

Refuse in the sense 'not accept an idea' uses the same image of 'sending back'; to refuse a claim is to push the idea away and not accept it. That's why people say someone refuses to believe something when they will not accept it.