negation
Americannoun
-
the act of denying.
He shook his head in negation of the charge.
-
a denial.
a negation of one's former beliefs.
-
something that is without existence; nonentity.
-
the absence or opposite of something that is actual, positive, or affirmative.
Darkness is the negation of light.
-
a negative statement, idea, concept, doctrine, etc.; a contradiction, refutation, or rebuttal.
a shameless lie that demands a negation.
noun
-
the opposite or absence of something
-
a negative thing or condition
-
the act or an instance of negating
-
logic
-
the operator that forms one sentence from another and corresponds to the English not
-
a sentence so formed. It is usually written –p, ~p, ̄p or ⇁ p , where p is the given sentence, and is false when the given sentence is true, and true when it is false
-
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of negation
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin negātiōn-, stem of negātiō “denial”; equivalent to negate + -ion
Explanation
A negation is a refusal or denial of something. If your friend thinks you owe him five dollars and you say that you don’t, your statement is a negation. A negation is a statement that cancels out or denies another statement or action. "I didn't kill the butler" could be a negation, along with "I don't know where the treasure is." The act of saying one of these statements is also a negation. Some negations can be good news, like “No, you don’t have a cavity” or “No, that report isn’t due today.”
Vocabulary lists containing negation
Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms, Unit 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Academic and Literary Vocabulary, Unit 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
Singh formally apologised to the nation in 2005 in parliament, saying the violence were "the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our constitution".
From BBC • Dec. 27, 2024
Here, the researchers found that participants took longer to interpret phrases with negation than they did phrases without negation -- indicating, not surprisingly given the greater complexity, that negation slows down our processing of meaning.
From Science Daily • May 30, 2024
And my idea of degrowth is not a negation of technology.
From Salon • May 3, 2024
“You’re not going to have enough current to light up a child’s lightbulb project at a science fair,” he informed Marlon, who did not take such negation well.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2024
The answer is that negation is easy to understand when the proposition being negated is plausible or tempting.23 Compare the negations in these two columns: A whale is not a fish.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
