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
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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
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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
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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:
She added: "I reject all attempts to decontextualise past statements I have made."
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Italians have come together in recent years to reject violence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Picture a developer trying to build a hillside home; a commission that’s wary of such projects could reject it, while another commission that leans more pro-housing could approve it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Charging-station availability was the leading reason for consumers to reject EVs this year, according to a May survey from JD Power, followed closely by charging speed.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
The entire thrust of the colonists’ justification for independence was to reject that designation on the grounds that they possessed all the rights of British citizens.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Where the review team very clearly rejects the idea of over-diagnosis is with mental health.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
In any normal industry, that would have put the Raiders at an enormous disadvantage, sorting through everyone else’s rejects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"Etihad categorically rejects any finding, conclusion or implication that suggests the airline has ever been involved in improper commercial arrangements," an Etihad spokesperson said in a statement released late Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
She supports equipping immigrant agents with training to enforce the law professionally and rejects enforcement tactics that “undermine public trust and confidence in our institutions.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
If she rejects me…well, it won’t be the worst thing that’s happened this summer.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Hammack said that has moved financial conditions closer to neutral, but she rejected the suggestion that the bond market could do the Fed’s work for it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The ECI has rejected allegations of impropriety in the "special intensive revision", saying it was intended to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Her claims were initially rejected, reinstated on appeal, then struck out again.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Anyone could be rejected because their health or medical test results indicate a high probability of problems that might lead to a need for long-term care.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Khrushchev angrily rejected Kennedy’s right to impose a quarantine, comparing Americans to lawless pirates.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
"What we want is to establish an open and transparent profit-sharing system," Lin said, rejecting the company’s one-off bonus, which he said left employees "at the mercy of management".
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Last month, Kelly issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to restore the outlets’ credentials, rejecting, at least at that stage, the administration’s national security rationale for yanking access.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
Cornell has said it supported presenting the case to a grand jury, while rejecting as "false" claims that it failed to punish those involved.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
I asked her if she thought I was doing the right thing, rejecting offers to buy the script unless I got the role.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
But the instant I stepped inside, I knew this was a place that represented everything Rain and I were rejecting by living at Garland.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
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.
