reject

[ verb ri-jekt; noun ree-jekt ]

/ verb rɪˈdʒɛkt; noun ˈri dʒɛkt /

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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.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR reject

1 See refuse¹.

1, 2 deny.

3 repel, renounce.

4 eliminate, jettison.

8 second.

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Related forms

re·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

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

Examples from the Web for rejected

The role was originally offered to John Wayne, who rejected it for being “unpatriotic.”
Sony: Hollywood’s Most Subversive Studio Under Attack|Marlow Stern|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Brutality must be rejected as a “mistake,” but simultaneously preserved as a possible policy option.
John Brennan’s Tortured Defense of the CIA’s Torture Program|Shane Harris|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Schettino also tried to enter a plea bargain agreement, which ultimately was rejected by the Grosseto court.
The Costa Concordia’s Randy Reckless Captain Takes the Stand|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Republicans rejected the offers.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: November 16|PunditFact.com|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Indeed, the body would ultimately have rejected the organ transplant.
Jon Stewart and 'Meet The Press' Would Have Been One Unhappy Marriage|Lloyd Grove|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I know not by what majority, for you did not read the record; I know not by whose votes; but that rule was rejected.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. II of 2)|Thomas Hart Benton
Mr. Hartland was every thing which a reasonable woman could desire in a spouse, and accordingly his suit was not rejected.
Tales of My Time, Vol. 1 (of 3)|William Pitt Scargill
Why should he marry this girl, rejected of her former lover, who now hung upon his arm?
The Bertrams|Anthony Trollope
A suggestion,' says he, 'may be ever so old; but it is not exhausted until it is acted upon, or rejected on sufficient reason.'
Chambers' Edinburgh Journal|Various
Every idea of prevention was rejected, as conveying an improper suspicion of the ministers of the crown.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12)|Edmund Burke

British Dictionary definitions for rejected

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 rejected (1 of 2)

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.

Word Origin and History for rejected (1 of 2)

reject

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).

Medicine definitions for rejected

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.

reject

verb (used with object)

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of reject

Examples from the Web for rejected

British Dictionary definitions for rejected

reject

verb (rɪˈdʒɛkt) (tr)

noun (ˈriːdʒɛkt)

Word Origin for reject

Word Origin and History for rejected (1 of 2)

reject

Word Origin and History for rejected (1 of 2)

reject

Medicine definitions for rejected

reject

v.