reject

[ verb ri-jekt; noun ree-jekt ]

verb (used with object)

1. to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc.:

   to reject the offer of a better job.

   Synonyms: deny

2. to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).

   Synonyms: deny

3. to refuse to accept (someone or something); rebuff:

   The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.

   Synonyms: renounce, repel

4. to discard as useless or unsatisfactory:

   The mind rejects painful memories.

   Synonyms: jettison, eliminate

5. to cast out or eject; vomit.
6. to cast out or off.
7. Medicine/Medical. (of a human or other animal) to have an immunological reaction against (a transplanted organ or grafted tissue):

   If tissue types are not matched properly, a patient undergoing a transplant will reject the graft.

noun

1. something rejected, as an imperfect article.

   Synonyms: second

reject

verb

1. to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
2. to throw out as useless or worthless; discard
3. to rebuff (a person)
4. (of an organism) to fail to accept (a foreign tissue graft or organ transplant) because of immunological incompatibility

noun

1. something rejected as imperfect, unsatisfactory, or useless

Derived Forms

• reˈjective, adjective
• reˈjection, noun
• reˈjectable, adjective
• reˈjecter, noun

Other Words From

• re·jecta·ble adjective
• re·jecter noun
• re·jective adjective
• prere·ject verb (used with object)
• quasi-re·jected adjective
• unre·jecta·ble adjective
• unre·jected adjective
• unre·jective adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reject¹

First recorded in 1485–95; (verb) from Latin rējectus, past participle of rējicere “to throw back,” equivalent to re- re- + jec-, combining form of jacere “to throw” + -tus past participle suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of reject¹

C15: from Latin rēicere to throw back, from re- + jacere to hurl

Synonym Study

See refuse ¹.

Example Sentences

It is possible that the Republican-led Senate holds confirmation hearings and decides, at the end, to defy their president and reject his pick to take on the “Deep State” and his many “enemies from within.”

From Salon

Jehovah's Witnesses reject homosexuality and Evans - the Welsh actor whose films include Beauty and the Beast, The Hobbit, and Fast & Furious 6 - understood he would be expelled from the community if he came out, with implications for his family too.

From BBC

"We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anti-competitive and will vigorously defend against any legal claim otherwise," it said in a statement.

From BBC

An even slightly less lopsided Senate would likely reject Ratcliffe out of fear that he’d politicize intelligence—as indeed he did during the brief spell, at the end of Trump’s first term, when he was director of national intelligence, the office that oversees and coordinates the 18 U.S. intel agencies.

From Slate

It would take four Republican senators to reject his nomination.

From Slate

Related Words

• deny
• dismiss
• rebuff
• refuse
• renounce
• repudiate
• scrap
• spurn
• turn down
• veto