reject
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rejects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rejected,
past participle, past
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rejecting
present participle
-
to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc..
to reject the offer of a better job.
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
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.
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to cast out or eject; vomit.
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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
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rejects
plural
verb
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to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
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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
Synonym Usage
See refuse 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rejecternoun
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rejectionnoun
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prerejectverb (used with object)
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quasi-rejectedadjective
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rejectableadjective
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rejectiveadjective
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unrejectableadjective
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unrejectedadjective
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unrejectiveadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rejectsimple
-
rejectssimple
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have rejectedperfect
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has rejectedperfect
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am rejectingprogressive
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are rejectingprogressive
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is rejectingprogressive
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have been rejectingperfect progressive
-
has been rejectingperfect progressive
Past
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rejectedsimple
-
had rejectedperfect
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was rejectingprogressive
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were rejectingprogressive
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had been rejectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reject
First recorded in 1485–95; (verb) from Latin rējectus, past participle of rējicere “to throw back,” equivalent to re- re- + jec-, combining form of jacere “to throw” + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
When you reject something, you rule it out or dismiss it. If you're trying to pick a fancy restaurant to go to for your birthday, you'll probably reject the diner you went to just yesterday. The verb reject has several shades of meaning. Reject can mean to refuse to accept or agree with something. If you don't believe space aliens are living on earth, you reject the idea — you just don't believe it. Reject can also mean to treat someone with contempt: "My former best friend rejected me to hang out with a different crowd — but I found new friends with whom I had more in common."
Vocabulary lists containing reject
Dissed List: Breakup Words for Valentine's Day
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 3
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Schooled
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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:
"We have always welcomed people who cannot return to their home of origin, and to reject these third country nationals would be acting against our best interest," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
She urged the board to reject the rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Hugo Boss’s managing and supervisory boards unanimously recommended that shareholders reject the offer, saying it undervalued the group and its standalone prospects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
"Ultimately, we want to turn the anti-tumor immunity back on in cancer patients so their own immune systems can reject the tumors," she said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
So as Aristotle’s arguments were accepted, the Greeks were forced to reject zero, void, the infinite, and infinity.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
But the government rejects the criticism, arguing that it has invested in ground-based resources, which it says are more effective, and purchased helicopters for water-bombing operations, with deliveries of the aircraft under way.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The president of Buenos Aires' Banco Provincia, Juan Cuattromo, rejects the notion that Argentines are themselves to blame for getting in over their heads.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
With Ovy, Karol revived the shadowy timbre of her joint Shakira track “TQG” into the new “Bebiendo Lágrimas,” a reggaeton song that adamantly rejects the notion of love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Frick rejects comparisons to the A Million Little Pieces scandal that transfixed the publishing industry of her youth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
One or two of the rejects manage to scarf a fistful of food before flying headfirst out of the cookhouse.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Nicklin rejected requests by Harry and the others to pay on a standard basis, instead favouring arguments by ANL that its costs should be repaid on a stricter so-called indemnity basis.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
A federal judge rejected the SEC’s own theory in the Ripple case, and industry estimates put the legal bill north of $400 million.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Both Marra and Fagan have rejected that accusation.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Netflix heard several pitches for various TV shows and movies and rejected them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
He was, indeed, rejected in favour of David Gregory, a protégé of Isaac Newton.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
A federal district judge, rejecting that contract provision, ruled last month that GEO Group must let health inspectors in, writing that “GEO’s new contract cannot preempt state law, even if it purports to.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
The Texas appeals court said state law required it to substantially reduce the punitive portion of the Heslin-Lewis award, despite rejecting other arguments Jones made challenging the verdict.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
He is one of the very few local voices publicly rejecting the KWS preliminary findings, pointing out that no other animals have died.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
As the fused worms began rejecting foreign tissue, Chai detected a rise in activin followed by chronic inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
I worried that I had created an unbridgeable divide by rejecting them and choosing my uncle, with his elegant home in the promised land of Saratoga.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
