gainsay
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have gainsaidperfect
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has gainsaidperfect 3rd person singular
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has been gainsayingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been gainsayingperfect progressive
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am gainsayingprogressive 1st person singular
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is gainsayingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are gainsayingprogressive
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gainsayssingular 3rd person
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gainsayingparticiple
Past
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had gainsaidperfect
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was gainsayingprogressive singular
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were gainsayingprogressive plural
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had been gainsayingperfect progressive
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gainsaidsimple
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gainsaidparticiple
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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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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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.
Gainsay it, and there need be no change—no going to Texas.
From The Death Shot A Story Retold by Reid, Mayne
God orders all, according to His will; Gainsay Him not in what He doth prepare, But trust in happy fortune near at hand, Wherein thou shalt forget the woes that were.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume III by Payne, John
Gainsay, gān′sā, v.t. to contradict: to deny: to dispute.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Gainsay it not that thou dost long for learning.”
From A Maid at King Alfred?s Court by Madison, Lucy Foster
Gainsay me not; for his sake are ye dear That sent you to our house; and though my part In life be low, I am no churl at heart.
From The Electra of Euripides Translated into English rhyming verse by Murray, Gilbert
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.
