denial

[ dih-nahy-uhl ]

noun

1. an assertion that something said, believed, alleged, etc., is false:

   Despite his denials, we knew he had taken the purse. The politician issued a denial of his opponent's charges.

   Synonyms: repudiation, disclaimer, disavowal

   Antonyms: confession, acknowledgment, admission

2. refusal to believe a doctrine, theory, or the like.
3. disbelief in the existence or reality of a thing.
4. the refusal to satisfy a claim, request, desire, etc., or the refusal of a person making it.
5. refusal to recognize or acknowledge; a disowning or disavowal:

   the traitor's denial of his country; Peter's denial of Christ.

6. Law. refusal to acknowledge the validity of a claim, suit, or the like; a plea that denies allegations of fact in an adversary's plea:

   Although she sued for libel, he entered a general denial.

7. sacrifice of one's own wants or needs; self-denial.
8. Psychology. an unconscious defense mechanism used to reduce anxiety by denying thoughts, feelings, or facts that are consciously intolerable.

denial

/ dɪˈnaɪəl /

noun

1. a refusal to agree or comply with a statement; contradiction
2. the rejection of the truth of a proposition, doctrine, etc

   a denial of God's existence

3. a negative reply; rejection of a request
4. a refusal to acknowledge; renunciation; disavowal

   a denial of one's leader

5. See defence mechanism
   a psychological process by which painful truths are not admitted into an individual's consciousness See also defence mechanism
6. abstinence; self-denial

Other Words From

• nonde·nial noun
• prede·nial adjective
• rede·nial noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of denial¹

First recorded in 1520–30; deny + -al ²

Example Sentences

What should be open and shut — an airtight case of inciting an insurrection — has become yet another exercise in disingenuous denial.

From Washington Post

The managers, as they indicated, will therefore urge the senators to make the “adverse inference” that his denials laid out in his defense brief are false.

From Washington Post

Bryant said the city plans to apply for another round of relief money, probably early this year, but he worries about another denial.

From ProPublica

He’s in denial, or out of sorts, or thinking he’ll get around to it eventually, or whatever.

From Washington Post

One of the ways we push away that knowledge is with straight-up denial.

From Washington Post

But what can be done, if climate denial is, in part, a religious belief?

From The Daily Beast

But if religious beliefs are fueling climate denial, then religious approaches are necessary to oppose it.

From The Daily Beast

A better taxonomy would break us up by words like Acceptance, Partial Denial, and Total Denial.

From The Daily Beast

This is a case where delay is denial—with potentially deadly results.

From The Daily Beast

About 300,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, and their relationship to the state is an almost perfect dance of denial.

From The Daily Beast

"I should judge your hens ain't layin' well, figurin' on the size of the basket," said the old man, ignoring her denial.

From Project Gutenberg

And she saw at once that he had done nothing of the sort; saw it without any more decisive denial.

From Project Gutenberg

A stronger man would have fought against odds like those and won for himself a place that would suffer no denial.

From Project Gutenberg

But valiant as their denial, the Chesters watched the surveyors depart with sore misgivings.

From Project Gutenberg

Infidels feel the power of this manifestation of God in His word; and are driven to every possible denial of the fact.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disapproval
• rebuttal
• rejection
• repudiation
• retraction
• veto