Adjacent Words

Denial definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DENIAL, n.
1. An affirmation to the contrary; an assertion that a declaration or fact stated is not true; negation; contradiction. It is often expressed by no or not, simply.
2. Refusal to grant; the negation of a request or petition; the contrary to grant, allowance or concession; as, his request or application met with a direct denial.
3. A rejection, or refusing to acknowledge; a disowning; as a denial of God: or a refusing to receive or embrace; as a denial of the faith or the truth.
4. A denial of ones self, is a declining of some gratification; restraint of ones appetites or propensities.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of refusing to comply (as with a request); "it resulted in a complete denial of his privileges"
2: the act of asserting that something alleged is not true [syn: denial, disaffirmation]
3: (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that denies painful thoughts
4: renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others [syn: abnegation, self-abnegation, denial, self-denial, self-renunciation]
5: a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense" [syn: defense, defence, denial, demurrer] [ant: criminal prosecution, prosecution]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1528 1. refusal to satisfy a request or desire 2. a. (1) refusal to admit the truth or reality (as of a statement or charge) (2) assertion that an allegation is false b. refusal to acknowledge a person or a thing ; disavowal 3. the opposing by the defendant of an allegation of the opposite party in a lawsuit 4. self-denial 5. negation in logic 6. a psychological defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or an instance of denying. 2 a refusal of a request or wish. 3 a statement that a thing is not true; a rejection (denial of the accusation). 4 a disavowal of a person as one's leader etc. 5 = SELF-DENIAL.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Denial De*ni"al, n. [See Deny.] 1. The act of gainsaying, refusing, or disowning; negation; -- the contrary of affirmation. You ought to converse with so much sincerity that your bare affirmation or denial may be sufficient. --Bp. Stillingfleet. 2. A refusal to admit the truth of a statement, charge, imputation, etc.; assertion of the untruth of a thing stated or maintained; a contradiction. 3. A refusal to grant; rejection of a request. The commissioners, . . . to obtain from the king's subjects as much as they would willingly give, . . . had not to complain of many peremptory denials. --Hallam. 4. A refusal to acknowledge; disclaimer of connection with; disavowal; -- the contrary of confession; as, the denial of a fault charged on one; a denial of God. Denial of one's self, a declining of some gratification; restraint of one's appetites or propensities; self-denial.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(denials) 1. A denial of something is a statement that it is not true, does not exist, or did not happen. Despite official denials, the rumours still persist... Denial of the Mafia's existence is nothing new. N-VAR: oft N of n 2. The denial of something to someone is the act of refusing to let them have it. (FORMAL) ...the denial of visas to international relief workers... N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n 3. In psychology, denial is when a person cannot or will not accept an unpleasant truth. ...an addict who is in denial about his addiction.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Contradiction, negation, controverting. 2. Disavowal, disclaimer, abjuration, disowning. 3. Refusal (to grant a request).

Moby Thesaurus

Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition Party, Volstead Act, abjuration, abjurement, abnegation, abrogation, absolute contradiction, abstaining, agnosticism, annulment, answer, argument, atheism, ban, bereavement, bucking, challenge, chucking, chucking out, complete answer, confounding, confutation, constraint, contempt, contention, contraband, contradiction, contraposition, contrary assertion, contravention, contraversion, controversion, cost, counteraction, countering, counterstatement, counterworking, crosscurrent, crossing, damage, dead loss, debit, declension, declination, declinature, declining, defense, demolition, demurrer, denudation, deprivation, despisal, despising, despoilment, destruction, detriment, disaffirmation, disagreement, disallowance, disapproval, disavowal, disbelief, discard, disclaimer, disclamation, discounting, discredit, discrediting, dismissal, disobedience, disowning, disownment, dispossession, disproof, disregard, dissent, divestment, effective rejoinder, embargo, exception, exclusion, expatriation, expense, forbearance, forbiddance, forbidden fruit, forbidding, forfeit, forfeiture, forswearing, frugality, gainsaying, golden mean, head wind, heresy, holding back, ignoring, impugnation, impugnment, inability to believe, incredulity, index, index expurgatorius, index librorum prohibitorum, infidelity, inhibition, injunction, injury, interdict, interdiction, interdictum, law, loser, losing, losing streak, loss, minimifidianism, misbelief, moderateness, moderation, nay, negation, negative, negative answer, nix, no, no-no, nonacceptance, nonapproval, nonbelief, noncompliance, nonconsent, nonconsideration, nonobservance, nothing in excess, nullification, nullifidianism, objection, opposing, opposition, opposure, oppugnation, overthrow, overthrowal, palinode, palinody, passing by, perdition, plea, pleading, preclusion, prevention, privation, prohibition, prohibitory injunction, proscription, putting away, putting out, rebuff, rebutment, rebuttal, recantation, refraining, refusal, refutal, refutation, rejection, reneging, renouncement, renunciation, reply, repression, repudiation, repulse, resistance, response, restraint, restrictive covenants, retention, retractation, retraction, revocation, revokement, riposte, robbery, ruin, ruling out, sacrifice, scouting, self, self-control, self-denial, self-discipline, self-mastery, self-restraint, soberness, sobriety, sophrosyne, special demurrer, special pleading, spoliation, spurning, squelch, standing against, statement of defense, statute, stripping, subversion, sumptuary laws, suppression, taboo, taking away, temperance, temperateness, throwing out, thumbs-down, total loss, traversal, turndown, turning out, unbelief, unbelievingness, undercurrent, undermining, unsaying, unwillingness, upset, upsetting, veto, withdrawal, withholding, zoning, zoning laws