Link Centre Dictionary

deny

UK/dɪˈnaɪ/ US/dəˈnaɪ/ common

verb

1.

declare untrue; contradict

  • “He denied the allegations”
  • “She denied that she had taken money”
Antonyms
2.

refuse to accept or believe

  • “He denied his fatal illness”
3.

refuse to grant, as of a petition or request

  • “The dean denied the students”
  • “;”
4.

refuse to let have

  • “She denies me every pleasure”
  • “he denies her her weekly allowance”
Synonyms
Antonyms
5.

deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure

  • “She denied herself wine and spirits”
Synonyms
6.

deny formally (an allegation of fact by the opposing party) in a legal suit

Synonyms
7.

refuse to recognize or acknowledge

  • “Peter denied Jesus”

Origin

From Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier (“to deny, to repudiate”) (French dénier), from Latin denegare (“to deny, to refuse”), from de- (“away”) and negare (“to refuse”), the latter ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *né (“no, not”). Doublet of denegate.

Phrases

  • deny of
  • deny oneself
  • justice delayed is justice denied
  • plausibly deny

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.