repudiation

American  

[ri-pyoo-dee-ey-shuhn] / rɪˌpyu diˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of repudiating.

2. the state of being repudiated.

3. refusal, as by a state or municipality, to pay a lawful debt.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrepudiation
  noun
• repudiatory
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of repudiation

1535–45; < Latin repudiātiōn- (stem of repudiātiō ), equivalent to repudiāt ( us ) ( see repudiate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Repudiation means the act of claiming that something is invalid. If there were a repudiation of all the math test scores because of widespread cheating, you'd probably have to take the test again. Repudiation comes from the verb "repudiate," which is rooted in the Latin word repudiare, meaning to divorce or reject. If you show something is false, you have made a repudiation of that thing. Until the repudiation of the claims, people thought that heroin was a harmless ingredient that could help ease a cough. General belief in the safety of cocaine and cigarettes had similar repudiations.

Example Sentences

Repudiation from various parts of the United States made it clear that Arizona’s crackdown had been awful for business.

From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2020

Mess No. 1: Repudiation by Mr. Lang last week of interest on another set of N. S. W. bonds, this time defaulting interest due in the U. S. as well as Great Britain.

From Time Magazine Archive

With only one dissenting ballot they voted in a landslide for Lang & Repudiation.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is difficult now to believe that Repudiation was the chief aim of the honest squires who toasted ‘the King over the Water.’

From Pickle the Spy; Or, the Incognito of Prince Charles by Lang, Andrew

Rabbi Jochanan said, "Repudiation is an odious thing."

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham

Related Words

• abrogation
• cancellation
• disapproval
• disavowal