to deny any knowledge or approval of, or responsibility for; disclaim; disown
Origin of disavow
Middle English disavouen from Old French desavoer: see dis- and avow
verb
Disavow is defined as to deny any association or responsibility.
If you disinherit your child and say that he is no longer your son, this is an example of when you disavow him.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"disavow." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow>.
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disavow. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow
disavow
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"disavow." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow>.
APA Style
disavow. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow
disavow
transitive verb
dis·a·vowed, dis·a·vow·ing, dis·a·vows- To disclaim knowledge of, responsibility for, or association with: “The American communists … promoted Roosevelt's reelection in 1944—although Roosevelt formally disavowed their support” ( Donald A. Ritchie )
- To assert to be wrong or of little value: “After 1920 his style changed almost completely, and he disavowed his early works” ( Mary V. Dearborn )
Origin of disavow
Middle English disavowen from Old French desavouer des- dis- avouer to avow ; see avow .Related Forms:
- dis′a·vow′a·ble
adjective
- dis′a·vow′al
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"disavow." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow>.
APA Style
disavow. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow
Verb
(third-person singular simple present disavows, present participle disavowing, simple past and past participle disavowed)
- To refuse strongly and solemnly to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like; to disclaim; to disown.
- He was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the crime.
- To deny; to show the contrary of; to disprove.
- Because of her dissatisfaction, she now disavows the merits of fascism.
- disavowal
- disavowed
Origin
From dis- + avow or from Old French desavouer.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"disavow." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow>.
APA Style
disavow. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Disavow
Sentence Examples
- He could not disavow his actions, belauded as they were by half the world, and so he had to repudiate truth, goodness, and all humanity.
- Resentment, however, incited him to personal revenge on the Californian government, and an ambition that clearly saw the gravity of the crisis prompted him to improve it unscrupulously for his own advancement, leaving his The government to support or disavow him according as P1 war should come or not.
- When the queen was dead, and some rumours of the kings intentions got abroad, the public indignation was so great that Henry of Richards councillors had to warn him to disavow the Richmond projected marriage, if he wished to retain a single lands at adherenf.
- 25 1916 he took ship with his leading partizans for Crete, whence he sent out his proclamation to the Greek people, calling upon all true patriots to disavow Constantine and his fatal policy and to flock to the standard of the Entente.
- Of Supplinburg, yielded to the papacy, and Lothair, who was elected by the clergy keenest to disavow the policy of Paschal II., was obliged to continue it when he assumed the tiara under the name of Calixtus II.
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