repudiate
[ ri-pyoo-dee-eyt ]
/ rɪˈpyu diˌeɪt /
verb (used with object), re·pu·di·at·ed, re·pu·di·at·ing.
to reject as having no authority or binding force: to repudiate a claim.
to cast off or disown: to repudiate a son.
to reject with disapproval or condemnation: to repudiate a new doctrine.
to reject with denial: to repudiate a charge as untrue.
to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality, etc.
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RELATED WORDS
abandon, recant, revoke, reverse, renounce, dismiss, disavow, spurn, retract, disown, repeal, forsake, rescind, dump, disapprove, rat, apostatize, flush, decline, cast
Nearby words
- republicanism,
- republicanize,
- republication,
- republicrat,
- republish,
- repudiation,
- repudiatory,
- repugn,
- repugnance,
- repugnant
Origin of repudiate
SYNONYMS FOR repudiate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for repudiate
repudiate
/ (rɪˈpjuːdɪˌeɪt) /
verb (tr)
to reject the authority or validity of; refuse to accept or ratifyCongress repudiated the treaty that the President had negotiated
to refuse to acknowledge or pay (a debt)
to cast off or disown (a son, lover, etc)
Word Origin for repudiate
C16: from Latin repudiāre to put away, from repudium a separation, divorce, from re- + pudēre to be ashamed
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
repudiate
1540s, "to cast off by divorce," from Latin repudiatus, past participle of repudiare "to cast off, put away, divorce, reject, scorn, disdain," from repudium "divorce, rejection, a putting away, dissolution of marriage," from re- "back, away" (see re-) + pudium, probably related to pes-/ped- "foot" [Barnhart]. If this is so, the original notion may be of kicking something away, but folk etymology commonly connects it with pudere "cause shame to." Of opinions, conduct, etc., "to refuse to acknowledge," attested from 1824. Earliest in English as an adjective meaning "divorced, rejected, condemned" (mid-15c.). Related: Repudiated; repudiating.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper