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deny Definition

deny (dē nī′, di-)

transitive verb -·nied′, -·ny′·ing

  1. to declare (a statement) untrue; contradict
  2. to refuse to accept as true or right; reject as unfounded, unreal, etc.
  3. to refuse to acknowledge as one's own; disown; repudiate
  4. to refuse the use of or access to
  5. to refuse to grant or give
  6. to refuse the request of (a person)
  7. Obsolete to forbid

Etymology: ME denien < OFr denier < L denegare < de-, intens. + negare, to deny: see negation

deny Idioms

deny oneself

  1. to do without desired things
  2. to abstain from
deny Synonyms

deny

v.

contradict, dispute, disagree with, disprove, disallow, gainsay, disavow, disclaim, negate, repudiate, contravene, controvert, forswear, revoke, recant, rebut, abnegate, call one a liar, rebuff, withhold, reject, refuse, renounce, discard, not admit, take exception to, disbelieve, spurn, doubt, veto, discredit, dismiss, impugn, confute, nullify, abjure, assert the negative of, say ""no'' to, declare not to be true, refute, disaffirm, refuse to acknowledge, not buy*, give the lie to*; see also confute, recant, refuse.

Antonyms admit*, accept*, affirm.

deny implies a refusal to accept as true, real, valid, existent, or tenable he denied the charge; to gainsay is to dispute what a person says or to challenge the person saying it facts that cannot be gainsaid; contradict not only implies emphatic denial, but, in addition, often suggests belief or evidence that the opposite or contrary is true the facts contradict his statement; impugn implies a direct, forceful attack against that which one calls into question she impugned his motives

deny Law Definition

v

Of a court, to reject a party’s claim for money or other relief; of a litigant, to reject in a pleading assertions made by the other party in its own pleading.
deny Usage Examples

Object

  • allegation: MMC, however, neither admitted or denied the allegations.
  • rumor: Saints deny rumors of Fowler play Sun 13 Nov Saints have moved to deny rumors that Robbie Fowler could be joining Southampton on loan.
  • existence: Similarly, you cannot discuss the purpose of life with a man who denies the existence of God.
  • accusation: The group denies accusations that it is aiding terrorists in the south.
  • wrongdoing: Dr. Bell said that Premier Foods had always denied any wrongdoing in this matter.
  • access: Anyone abusing these services will be denied access to the secure portion of the website.

Subject

  • keeper: Cole went close for Blues but was denied by keeper Smith, and Hucknall pushed forward with Mark Smith prominent.

Modifying Another Word

  • vehemently: She vehemently denied that she had given it to Diana to sell.
  • strenuously: The police strenuously deny that there is any evidence to support these claims.
  • categorically: Yet in your letter of information you categorically deny what comrade N tells me.
  • flatly: He flatly denies the fundamental truths of the Gospel.
  • no: However, there's no denying the sector is slowing.
  • vigorously: Many archeologists vigorously deny that cannibalism has ever been normal practice in Britain or elsewhere, in prehistory or at any more recent period.

Used with why or when

  • what: The guest can now only confirm or deny what has been said.

Present participle complement

  • assault: Peters denied assaulting her, but admitted that " I only poked her with my stick to see if she was alive.
  • murder: George ( 41 ) denies murdering the TV presenter on 26 April 1999.
  • board: Details of our denied boarding rules are available on request at check-in counters.
  • steal: Man denies stealing rower's Olympic medal about the guy arrested for nicking Matthew Pinsent's latest bit of metalwork.
  • know: Marcia goes missing and the plot thickens when her teachers / landlord etc deny ever knowing her.

Preposition: by

  • keeper: Cole went close for Blues but was denied by keeper Smith, and Hucknall pushed forward with Mark Smith prominent.
deny Quotes

A sensitive boy's humiliations may be very good fun for ordinary thick-skinned grown-ups; but to the boy himself theyareso acute, so ignominious, that he cannot confess themöcannot but deny them passionately.

—Shaw, George Bernard

Who will dare deny that theThird Estate contains within itself all that is needed to constitute a nation?† What would theThird Estate be without theprivileged classes? It would be a whole in itself, and a prosperous one. Nothing can be done without it, and everything would be done far better without the others.

—Sie'  yes

Ich musste also das Wissen aufheben, um zum Glauben Platz zu bekommen. I have therefore found it necessary to deny knowledge, in order to make room for faith.

—Kant, Immanuel

And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how hehad said unto him,Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

—Bible (NewTestament)

Jesus said unto him,Verily I say unto thee,That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him,Though Ishould die with thee yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

—Bible (NewTestament)

The atrocious crime of being a young man, which [Walpole] has, with such spirit and decency, charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny; but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies cease with their youth, and not of those who continue ignorant in spite of their age and experience.

—Pitt,William, 1st Earl of Chatham known as  the Elder

I can reason down or deny everything, except this perpetual Belly: feed he must and will, and I cannot make him respectable.

—Emerson, RalphWaldo

Browse dictionary entries near deny

  1. ‹ Denver boot
  2. ‹ Denver
  3. ‹ denunciation
  4. ‹ denumerable
  5. ‹ denude
  6. ‹ denudate
  7. ‹ denuclearize
  8. ‹ denture
  9. ‹ dentosurgical
  10. ‹ Denton
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