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repudiate

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repudiate

  • /ɹɪˈpjuː.di.eɪt/ UK
  • /ɹəˈpjuː.di.eɪt/ UK
  • /ɹɪˈpju.di.eɪt/ Canada, US
  • [ɹɪˈpju.ɾi.eɪt] Canada, US
  • /ɹəˈpju.di.eɪt/ Canada, US
  • [ɹəˈpju.ɾi.eɪt] Canada, US
  • /ɹɪˈpjʉː.di.æɪt/ Australia
  • /ɹəˈpjʉː.di.æɪt/ Australia
  • /ɹəˈpjʉː.di.æɪt/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

First attested in 1543; from Latin repudiātus, the perfect passive participle of repudiō (“to cast off, reject”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from repudium (“rejection, repudiation, divorce”).

verb repudiates · repudiating · repudiated

  1. transitive To reject the truth or validity of; to deny. The fierce willingness to repudiate domination in a holistic manner is the starting point for progressive cultural revolution.

    Similar: deny, contradict, gainsay, refudiate

  2. transitive To refuse to have any relation to; to disown. It was not enough just to shoot the Old Bolsheviks; Stalin had to have the show trials. He had to demonstrate publicly that these men of enormous energy and spirit were so utterly broken as to openly repudiate themselves and all they had fought for.

    Similar: disavow, forswear

  3. transitive To refuse to pay or honor (a debt). '[…] she dictated to Briggs a furious answer in her own native tongue, repudiating Mrs. Rawdon Crawley altogether […]'

    Similar: welsh · Opposite: requite

  4. intransitive To be repudiated.

Similar: abjure, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, forsay, forswear, renounce, repudiate, wash one's hands of · Opposite: accept, own up

adjective more repudiate · most repudiate

  1. obsolete, as a participle, of a woman Repudiated by a husband, divorced.
  2. obsolete, of a woman Repudiated after betrothal or engagement.
  3. obsolete Set aside, rejected.

noun repudiates

  1. obsolete A divorced wife.

Thesaurus

verb

Similar: abjure, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, forsay, forswear, renounce, repudiate, wash one's hands of · Opposite: accept, own up

Translations

Every language

verb to refuse to have anything to do with

Españolrepudiar, desconocer
Deutschverleugnen, verstoßen, sich distanzieren, zurückweisen, sich verweigern
Ελληνικάαπορρίπτω aporrípto
Русскийотрека́ться otrekátʹsja
العربيةتَبَرَّأَ tabarraʔa

verb to reject the truth of, deny

Españolrepudiar
Françaisrépudier, nier
Deutschverleugnen, abstreiten, leugnen, zurückweisen
Ελληνικάαποκηρύσσω apokirýsso
Русскийотверга́ть otvergátʹ
العربيةرَفَضَ rafaḍa

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MLA

"repudiate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/repudiate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

repudiate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/repudiate

Chicago

"repudiate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/repudiate.

BibTeX
@misc{repudiate_2026,
  title = {repudiate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/repudiate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}