Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » repudiate

repudiate

Listen See in Thesaurus See in a sentence

Repudiate is to refuse to have anything to do with or to reject in a public way.

(verb)

An example of repudiate is to go against an argument in a debate.

See repudiate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

to refuse to have anything to do with; disown or cast off publicly
1. to refuse to accept or support; deny the validity or authority of (a belief, a treaty, etc.)
2. to deny the truth of (a charge, etc.)
to refuse to acknowledge or pay (a debt or obligation): said esp. of a government

Origin: < L repudiatus, pp. of repudiare, to put away, divorce < repudium, separation, a divorce < re-, away, back + base of pudere, to feel shame

Related Forms:

repudiation noun
repudiator noun

See repudiate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb re·pu·di·at·ed, re·pu·di·at·ing, re·pu·di·ates

To reject the validity or authority of: “Chaucer . . . not only came to doubt the worth of his extraordinary body of work, but repudiated it” (Joyce Carol Oates).
To reject emphatically as unfounded, untrue, or unjust: repudiated the accusation.
To refuse to recognize or pay: repudiate a debt.
a. To disown (a child, for example).
b. To refuse to have any dealings with.

Origin:

Origin: Latin repudiāre, repudiāt-

Origin: , from repudium, divorce

Related Forms: