rejection

American  

[ri-jek-shuhn] / rɪˈdʒɛk ʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of rejecting.

   Synonyms:

   elimination, dismissal, refusal

2. the state of being rejected.

   Synonyms:

   elimination, dismissal, refusal

3. something that is rejected.

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rejection Cultural  

1. A process in which the immune system of a body attacks an organ or tissue, either its own or tissue transplanted into it from another organism. (See xenotransplantation.)

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Discover More

Rejection is the most serious problem faced in surgery involving organ transplants. Drugs are used to suppress the immune system after organ transplant in order to prevent the rejection of and eventual death of the transplanted tissue.

Other Word Forms

• nonrejection noun
• prerejection noun

Etymology

Origin of rejection

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin rējectiōn-, stem of rējectiō “a throwing back”; equivalent to reject + -ion

Explanation

The noun rejection can refer to the actual act of rejecting something or to the feeling one has after being rejected. In other words, you might have feelings of rejection after experiencing the rejection of others. The Latin noun rēicere, which means "to throw back," is the ancestor of the word rejection. Nobody likes to feel the rejection of being excluded. The word rejection became popular in psychology in 1931, when parental rejection was seen as a motivation of bad behavior in children. The word found a medical meaning by 1943, as the body's refusal to accept a transplant.

Example Sentences

To date, it lacks a single commercialized product, which makes the latest rejection even more of a crushing blow.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

No dramatic rejection, no moment where you swear them off.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026

Reasons given for its rejection included that being a replication it was not novel; that after a couple of years the field has moved on.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

She said rejection sensitivity, which is associated with the condition, made feelings of embarrassment or exclusion more intense, sometimes leading her to spend more as the pressure to keep up socially impacted her emotionally.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

With this long-standing acceptance of Aristotle came a rejection of the infinite—and the void, for Aristotle’s denial of the infinite required a denial of the void, because the void implies the existence of the infinite.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• elimination
• exclusion
• repudiation
• veto