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repudiate

[ri-pyoo-dee-eyt]
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verb (used with object), re·pu·di·at·ed, re·pu·di·at·ing.
  1. to reject as having no authority or binding force: to repudiate a claim.
  2. to cast off or disown: to repudiate a son.
  3. to reject with disapproval or condemnation: to repudiate a new doctrine.
  4. to reject with denial: to repudiate a charge as untrue.
  5. to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality, etc.
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Origin of repudiate

1535–45; < Latin repudiātus (past participle of repudiāre to reject, refuse), equivalent to repudi(um) a casting off, divorce (re- re- + pud(ere) to make ashamed, feel shame (see pudendum) + -ium -ium) + -ātus -ate1
Related formsre·pu·di·a·ble, adjectivere·pu·di·a·tive, adjectivere·pu·di·a·tor, nounnon·re·pu·di·a·ble, adjectivenon·re·pu·di·a·tive, adjectiveun·re·pu·di·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·pu·di·at·ed, adjectiveun·re·pu·di·a·tive, adjective
Can be confusedrepudiate refute refudiate (see word story at refudiate)

Synonyms

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1. disavow, renounce, discard, disclaim. 3. condemn, disapprove.

Antonyms

1. accept. 3. approve.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

abandon, recant, revoke, reverse, renounce, dismiss, disavow, spurn, retract, disown, repeal, forsake, rescind, dump, disapprove, rat, apostatize, flush, decline, cast

Examples from the Web for repudiate

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Philip was ashamed of his glories, but he had no heart to repudiate them.

    The Manxman

    Hall Caine

  • There was something coming to him on that account which a man could not repudiate or ignore.

  • I ought to have said the bargain ceases the instant you repudiate it.

    A Rent In A Cloud

    Charles James Lever

  • This was the feeling that had made it incumbent on him to repudiate a wife who had so treated him.

    Kept in the Dark

    Anthony Trollope

  • There are circumstances in which a good citizen is bound to repudiate all complicity.

    The Gods are Athirst

    Anatole France

British Dictionary definitions for repudiate

repudiate

verb (tr)
  1. to reject the authority or validity of; refuse to accept or ratifyCongress repudiated the treaty that the President had negotiated
  2. to refuse to acknowledge or pay (a debt)
  3. to cast off or disown (a son, lover, etc)
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Derived Formsrepudiable, adjectiverepudiation, nounrepudiative, adjectiverepudiator, noun

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for repudiate

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper