gainsay
Americanverb (used with object)
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gainsays,
present (3rd person singular)
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gainsaid,
past participle, past
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gainsaying
present participle
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to deny, dispute, or contradict.
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to speak or act against; oppose.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gainsaysimple
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gainsayssimple
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have gainsaidperfect
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has gainsaidperfect
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am gainsayingprogressive
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are gainsayingprogressive
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is gainsayingprogressive
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have been gainsayingperfect progressive
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has been gainsayingperfect progressive
Past
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gainsaidsimple
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had gainsaidperfect
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was gainsayingprogressive
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were gainsayingprogressive
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had been gainsayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gainsay
First recorded in 1250–1300, gainsay is from the Middle English word gainsaien. See again, say 1
Explanation
Gainsay, a verb, means "contradict" or "speak out against." When you challenge authority, you gainsay, as in teachers don't like it when unruly students gainsay them. Gainsay comes from an Old English word that means "contradict" or "say against," as in, "no one dared gainsay the principal, who is well-known for giving detention to students who so much as frown at him." If you know someone who constantly corrects others, tells them that they're wrong, and says, "That's not true," more than anyone else, you have first-hand experience with the art of the gainsay.
Vocabulary lists containing gainsay
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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.
See Examples For:
As an Episcopal priest, I’d be the last person to gainsay the importance of prayer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
Yet far be it from me to gainsay the delight that many viewers take in “The Princess Bride.”
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 20, 2019
Although the movie doesn’t really position Jackson as a has-been, it also doesn’t forcefully gainsay the notion that the best thing he can do for Ally is get out of her way.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2018
He’s not sure he has “the emotional fuel” for another presidential run, and no one can gainsay that for a father who has lost a son.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2015
There was an argument, of course, but Mal in these last few days had become difficult to gainsay.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Yet a fluent, pacy new translation by Michael Hofmann gainsays that assumption, opening up the book for English-speakers.
From Economist ● Mar. 8, 2018
Neither Mr. Khan nor Ms. Mac Donald gainsays the historical connection between conservatism and religiosity.
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2011
The King gainsays thy wedding couch, and dowry justly bought By very blood, and for his throne an outland heir is sought.
From The Æneids of Virgil Done into English Verse by William Morris
Happiest, merriest ways, Knowing no gainsays, so the story says, Since the Great Râm loved and blessed you, With his care-worn hand caressed you, In the olden days.
From The Adventures of Akbar by Byam Shaw
Tastes may differ even on a mince-pie; but who gainsays a fire?
From Christmas: Its Origin and Associations Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries by William Francis Dawson
In-house experts are gainsaid by leadership or even made entirely irrelevant as their duties are passed off to the commercial sector.
From Slate ● May 6, 2020
None has suggested, however, that a president’s voluntary decision to provide materials to Congress can be gainsaid, either by subordinate executive-branch officials or the courts.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 12, 2018
Getting hit by a foul ball or a broken bat is a known risk of attending baseball games, and the potential for major injuries cannot be gainsaid.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2015
My evaluation process would be a lot simpler and less anxiety-ridden if I knew I would never be gainsaid by any student.
From Salon ● May 25, 2013
Yet the scale of Pizarro's triumph at Cajamarca cannot be gainsaid.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Just as there’s no denying the popular place in the repertoire of Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus,” there’s no gainsaying the durable position in the canon of Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
And as for amateurs gainsaying the work of the Centro Stile design department, I think that’s adorable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
There can be no gainsaying Milei’s economic achievements since he took office in December 2023.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
There is no gainsaying that top of the agenda in South African sport now is that black lives matter.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 21, 2020
The Rani liked Bipin's songs—they were sweet—there was no gainsaying it.
From Mashi and Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore
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.
