deny
Americanverb (used with object)
-
denies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
denied,
past participle, past
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denying
present participle
-
to state that (something declared or believed to be true) is not true.
to deny an accusation.
- Synonyms:
- gainsay, oppose, controvert, dispute
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to refuse to agree or accede to.
to deny a petition.
-
to withhold the possession, use, or enjoyment of.
to deny access to secret information.
- Antonyms:
- allow
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to withhold something from, or refuse to grant a request of.
to deny a beggar.
-
to refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disown; disavow; repudiate.
to deny one's gods.
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to withhold (someone) from accessibility to a visitor.
The secretary denied his employer to all those without appointments.
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Obsolete. to refuse to take or accept.
idioms
verb
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to declare (an assertion, statement, etc) to be untrue
he denied that he had killed her
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to reject as false; refuse to accept or believe
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to withhold; refuse to give
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to refuse to fulfil the requests or expectations of
it is hard to deny a child
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to refuse to acknowledge or recognize; disown; disavow
the baron denied his wicked son
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to refuse (oneself) things desired
Synonym Usage
Deny, contradict both imply objecting to or arguing against something. To deny is to say that something is not true: to deny an allegation. To contradict is to declare that the contrary is true: to contradict a statement.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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denysimple
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deniessimple
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have deniedperfect
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has deniedperfect
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am denyingprogressive
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are denyingprogressive
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is denyingprogressive
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have been denyingperfect progressive
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has been denyingperfect progressive
Past
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deniedsimple
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had deniedperfect
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was denyingprogressive
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were denyingprogressive
-
had been denyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deny
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English denien, from Old French denier, from Latin dēnegāre; see denegation
Explanation
To deny means refuse to accept, recognize, or believe. You can deny your sweet tooth all you want, but the stash of candy in your desk tells a different story. It's hard to deny what etymologists have proven: deny is rooted in the Latin word denegare, which means “to deny, reject, refuse.” You can deny yourself of chocolate if you're on a diet, or deny the accusations that you're a chocoholic. But it's usually best to fess up. Abraham Lincoln famously admitted: “I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh — anything but work."
Vocabulary lists containing deny
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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19th Amendment (1920)
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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.
See Examples For:
But the Kazakh second seed could rub more salt in Sabalenka's wounds if she can deny the top seed a third successive US Open title in Saturday's showpiece.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Asked, for instance, if he meows to his cats, Jonathan B. Losos, an evolutionary biologist and author of the book, “The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved From the Savanna to Your Sofa,” wouldn’t deny it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Clancy does not deny killing the three, but says there was no premeditation and she was experiencing psychosis at the time.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
In London, where he spoke this week, numerous groups asked Mayor Sadiq Khan to deny him any city-controlled venue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Friends called Farmer a word gymnast, which he didn’t deny.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
He denies wrongdoing and insists an investigation, which was announced Friday, will clear him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Before the landmark proof even appeared online, social media blew up with suspicion that OpenAI’s model had taken the groundbreaking, unpublished work of humans, which the company denies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Washington denies any involvement in the disappearance of the eight men.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
A second defendant Abubakar Adamu, 35, the driver of the stationary lorry the car collided with, denies a charge against him of obstructing the free flow of traffic.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The last theory accepts the evidence for immigration from Korea but denies that it was massive.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Garcia improved to 26-2 with his 21st victory inside the distance and denied Benn, in his first world title bout, a chance to become a world champion like his father, England's Nigel Benn.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
But later in a board meeting, she denied knowing anything about it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The hospital has denied Thurman’s malpractice allegations in a court filing.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Though the family renewed its inquiries on Mahmoud’s whereabouts, the answers have not been encouraging: Both the Israeli Prison Service and the Israeli military denied he was in their custody.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
When law enforcement officers asked for more roadblocks and more officers to enforce the blocks, their director denied their request.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued him in 2023 over alleged market manipulation, a case settled this year without Sun admitting or denying wrongdoing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Though Arteta spoke more about the awarding of the penalty rather than Raya's saving of it, there is no denying that the Spanish goalkeeper's intervention changed the direction of the match.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The EU's approach should focus on the safety of the technology children use -- including through enforcement of the bloc's Digital Services Act -- instead of denying minors access to platforms, they argued.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Sullivan obliged, allowing Reddington one hour to file his appeal, but it ultimately failed with the state supreme court quickly holding a hearing and denying the application for an emergency stay.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
“So you’re only denying that to peasants now, huh?”
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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.
