reject

[verb ri-jekt; noun ree-jekt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reject ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc.: to reject the offer of a better job.

to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).

to refuse to accept (someone or something); rebuff: The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.

to discard as useless or unsatisfactory: The mind rejects painful memories.

to cast out or eject; vomit.

to cast out or off.

Medicine/Medical. (of a human or other animal) to have an immunological reaction against (a transplanted organ or grafted tissue): If tissue types are not matched properly, a patient undergoing a transplant will reject the graft.

noun

something rejected, as an imperfect article.

Origin of reject

1485–95; (v.) < Latin rējectus, past participle of rējicere to throw back, equivalent to re- re- + jec-, combining form of jacere to throw + -tus past participle suffix

Related formsre·ject·a·ble, adjectivere·ject·er, nounre·jec·tive, adjectivepre·re·ject, verb (used with object)qua·si-re·ject·ed, adjectiveun·re·ject·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·ject·ed, adjectiveun·re·jec·tive, adjective

Synonyms for reject

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reject ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See refuse¹. 1, 2. deny. 3. repel, renounce. 4. eliminate, jettison. 8. second.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for reject

refuse, spurn, renounce, veto, scrap, dismiss, deny, repudiate, rebuff, repulse, shed, burn, despise, disbelieve, kill, exclude, decline, second, discredit, eliminate

Examples from the Web for reject

Contemporary Examples of reject

As Assaf put it, “this is one way to reject extremism and make it so the people are not afraid.”
Middle East Goes Monty Python on ISIS
Dean Obeidallah
October 29, 2014
And I was wondering how you combat that impulse to reject the young?
Martin Amis Talks About Nazis, Novels, and Cute Babies
Ronald K. Fried
October 9, 2014
His Mormon faith was no reason to reject his candidacy, he argued.
It’s Official: Religion Doesn’t Make You More Moral
Elizabeth Picciuto
September 23, 2014
I reject angrily authority that exists without my respect.
Brecht's Mercenary Mother Courage Turns 75
Katie Baker
September 10, 2014
The problem for concerned people was not merely to do the obvious thing and reject apartheid, but to decide what to do about it.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid
Benjamin Pogrund
July 17, 2014

Historical Examples of reject

But once enticed into the parlour he did not reject the food set before him.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad
And in this thought he did not reject the invitations pressed on him.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
And under what pretence can you embrace the one, while you reject the other?
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
Miss Gunn, do you really wish me to understand that you reject me?
Hetty's Strange History
Anonymous
Consider this before, unworthy as I am, you reject me from your esteem.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for reject

reject

verb (rɪˈdʒɛkt) (tr)

to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc

to throw out as useless or worthless; discard

to rebuff (a person)

(of an organism) to fail to accept (a foreign tissue graft or organ transplant) because of immunological incompatibility

noun (ˈriːdʒɛkt)

something rejected as imperfect, unsatisfactory, or useless

Derived Formsrejectable, adjectiverejecter or rejector, nounrejection, nounrejective, adjective

Word Origin for reject

C15: from Latin rēicere to throw back, from re- + jacere to hurl

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reject

early 15c., from Old French rejecter and directly from Latin reiectus, past participle of reiectare "throw away, cast away, vomit," frequentative of reicere "to throw back," from re- "back" (see re-) + -icere, comb. form of iacere "to throw" (see jet (v.)). Related: Rejected; rejecting.

1550s, "a castaway" (rare), from reject (v.). Modern use probably a re-formation of the same word: "thing cast aside as unsatisfactory" (1893); "person considered low-quality and worthless" (1925, from use in militaries).

reject in Medicine

reject

[rĭ-jĕkt′]

v.

To refuse to accept, submit to, believe, or use something.

To discard as defective or useless; throw away.

To spit out or vomit.

To resist immunologically introduction of a transplanted organ or tissue; fail to accept in one's body.