reject
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc..
to reject the offer of a better job.
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
to refuse to accept (someone or something); rebuff.
The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.
-
to discard as useless or unsatisfactory.
The mind rejects painful memories.
-
to cast out or eject; vomit.
-
to cast out or off.
-
Medicine/Medical. (of a human or other animal) to have an immunological reaction against (a transplanted organ or grafted tissue).
If tissue types are not matched properly, a patient undergoing a transplant will reject the graft.
noun
verb
-
to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
-
to throw out as useless or worthless; discard
-
to rebuff (a person)
-
(of an organism) to fail to accept (a foreign tissue graft or organ transplant) because of immunological incompatibility
noun
Related Words
See refuse 1.
Other Word Forms
- prereject verb (used with object)
- quasi-rejected adjective
- rejectable adjective
- rejecter noun
- rejection noun
- rejective adjective
- unrejectable adjective
- unrejected adjective
- unrejective adjective
Etymology
Origin of reject
First recorded in 1485–95; (verb) from Latin rējectus, past participle of rējicere “to throw back,” equivalent to re- re- + jec-, combining form of jacere “to throw” + -tus past participle suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Iran appeared to show an openness to compromises that it had rejected outright in the past.
No one else among the senior clergy was seen as qualified, and the idea of a so-called leadership council was rejected.
From Los Angeles Times
Ashcroft formally rejected a $50 million FBI request to hire additional counterterrorism agents and intelligence specialists on Sept. 10, the day before the attacks.
From Salon
The Times has now reported that some complaints against Adams were upheld, but others were rejected.
From BBC
Khamenei famously initially rejected the nomination, putting his head in his hands in a show of despair and declaring, "I am opposed".
From Barron's
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.
