verb
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to reject (a person or thing) with contempt
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archaic to kick (at)
noun
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an instance of spurning
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archaic a kick or thrust
Related Words
See refuse 1.
Other Word Forms
- outspurn verb (used with object)
- spurner noun
Etymology
Origin of spurn
First recorded in 1250–1300; (verb) Middle English spurnen, Old English spurnan; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German spurnan, Old Norse sporna “to kick”; akin to Latin spernere “to put away”; (noun) Middle English: “a kick, contemptuous stroke,” derivative of the verb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For most of the past century, it would have been unthinkable for BYU’s coach to spurn a blueblood like Penn State, with all the in-built advantages it offered in recruiting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from USC, says he is happy in Chicago a year after he and his father discussed ways to spurn the Bears.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2025
A tense finish saw 27-year-old Bublik spurn one match point - and save five break points - before eventually getting over the line.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2025
With surprising speed, however, this country’s leaders came to spurn McKinley’s embrace of a colonial empire with its costly, complicated occupation of overseas territories.
From Salon • Mar. 7, 2025
That she would spurn me for leaving her alone in the woods.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
