spurn

[spurn]

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verb (used with object)

to reject with disdain; scorn.

to treat with contempt; despise.

to kick or trample with the foot.

verb (used without object)

to show disdain or contempt; scorn something.

noun

disdainful rejection.

contemptuous treatment.

a kick.

Origin of spurn

1250–1300; (v.) 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 noun

Related formsspurn·er, nounout·spurn, verb (used with object)un·spurned, adjective

Synonyms for spurn

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spurn ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See refuse¹. 6. contumely.

Antonyms for spurn

1. accept.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for spurned

refuse, disdain, repudiate, dismiss, despise, flout, scorn, snub, reject, disregard, rebuff, decline, cut, dump, repulse, drop, scoff, disapprove, slight, air

Examples from the Web for spurned

Contemporary Examples of spurned

Both candidates have pledged to sign the security pact that outgoing President Hamid Karzai has spurned.
A Time Bomb in Afghanistan’s Ballot Box
Kimberly Dozier
May 17, 2014
But Bush administration neocons, salivating over regime change in Iran, spurned this extraordinary deal.
Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick On How Obama Should Handle the Crisis In Syria
Oliver Stone, Peter Kuznick
October 15, 2013
To the fury of the old guard, he spurned the right wing of his party to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1940.
The Fight Over America’s Entrance to WWII
Sandra McElwaine
April 7, 2013
Eli Lake on the years of mistrust (and spurned cash) between the two nations.
Why Algeria Didn’t Warn the U.S. About Its Hostage Raid
Eli Lake
January 18, 2013
The lesson is this: Spurned lovers have a tendency to go ballistic.
Paula Broadwell, Eminem, & More Spurned Lovers Who Went Ballistic
Paula Froelich
November 15, 2012

Historical Examples of spurned

But anger and fear soon got the mastery of him, and he spurned her from him.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
The other reading “dirmygei,” would mean he spurned, or dishonoured.
Y Gododin
Aneurin
I grovelled at your feet and begged you—you spurned me as I do you now.
Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer
Cyrus Townsend Brady
I spurned him from me with violence because he had maligned your wife.
Is He Popenjoy?
Anthony Trollope
He spurned to correct himself and stalked on, leaving the judge gaping.
In a Little Town
Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for spurned

spurn

verb

to reject (a person or thing) with contempt

(when intr, often foll by against) archaic to kick (at)

noun

an instance of spurning

archaic a kick or thrust

Derived Formsspurner, noun

Word Origin for spurn

Old English spurnan; related to Old Norse sporna, Old High German spurnan, Latin spernere to despise, Lithuanian spiriu to kick

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 spurned

spurn

Old English spurnan "to kick (away), reject, scorn, despise," from Proto-Germanic *spurnanan (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German spurnan, Old Frisian spurna, Old Norse sporna "to kick"), from PIE root *spere- "ankle" (cf. Middle Dutch spoor "track of an animal," Greek sphyron "ankle," Latin spernere "to reject, spurn," Sanskrit sphurati "kicks," Middle Irish seir "heel"). Related: Spurned; spurning.