reject
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rejects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rejected,
past participle, past
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rejecting
present participle
-
to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc..
to reject the offer of a better job.
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
to refuse to accept (someone or something); rebuff.
The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.
-
to discard as useless or unsatisfactory.
The mind rejects painful memories.
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to cast out or eject; vomit.
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to cast out or off.
-
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
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rejects
plural
verb
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to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
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to throw out as useless or worthless; discard
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to rebuff (a person)
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(of an organism) to fail to accept (a foreign tissue graft or organ transplant) because of immunological incompatibility
noun
Synonym Usage
See refuse 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rejecternoun
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rejectionnoun
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prerejectverb (used with object)
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quasi-rejectedadjective
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rejectableadjective
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rejectiveadjective
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unrejectableadjective
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unrejectedadjective
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unrejectiveadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rejectsimple
-
rejectssimple
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have rejectedperfect
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has rejectedperfect
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am rejectingprogressive
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are rejectingprogressive
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is rejectingprogressive
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have been rejectingperfect progressive
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has been rejectingperfect progressive
Past
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rejectedsimple
-
had rejectedperfect
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was rejectingprogressive
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were rejectingprogressive
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had been rejectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reject
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
Explanation
When you reject something, you rule it out or dismiss it. If you're trying to pick a fancy restaurant to go to for your birthday, you'll probably reject the diner you went to just yesterday. The verb reject has several shades of meaning. Reject can mean to refuse to accept or agree with something. If you don't believe space aliens are living on earth, you reject the idea — you just don't believe it. Reject can also mean to treat someone with contempt: "My former best friend rejected me to hang out with a different crowd — but I found new friends with whom I had more in common."
Vocabulary lists containing reject
Dissed List: Breakup Words for Valentine's Day
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 3
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Schooled
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Telegram's efforts in the fight against terrorism are well documented. We reject these accusations and will challenge them in court," the company said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
“We reject ourselves way more than we’re rejected by others,” he told Mr. Epley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
And facts so clean that a satirist would reject them as too on the nose: one six-pack, one dry village, one retired pilot, one $95,000 plane.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Daily Mirror leads with the statement from the "heartbroken" relatives impacted by the funeral director's actions as they "reject cruel undertaker's apology as he arrives at court".
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
They reject Roman training and try to follow the older Greek style—like being solo heroes instead of working as a team the way the legion does.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
But Hezbollah rejects the agreement outright despite Lebanese government pressure, lowering expectations of success in the negotiations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
After a pause, he added, “When one side rejects you, you look south, the land of your ancestors, to look for acceptance.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
But it notes that the artist rejects that incendiary political reading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Yet Bandar Abbas's mayor rejects suggestions the war has left Iran weakened.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
The more I tried to rush, the more rejects I received.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Modern hunts require a licence from public agency NatureScot, which rejected the application this year due to concerns about the impact on the gannet population.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Thompson also rejected Jones’ criticism of his fundraising, saying he has “done a lot of good work that’s not necessarily in the interests” of those who have contributed to his campaign.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
A Minnesota librarian, James Michael McConnell, had sought to marry a law student, Richard John Baker, and had been rejected for a marriage license.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the allegations, defending its immigration enforcement efforts and criticizing the ACLU’s characterization of federal operations.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
If this girl rejected him like the others, he had nowhere to go and no one else to turn to.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Some, like Doyle, are rejecting new cars altogether, opting to stick with used models or keeping their older cars running longer than ever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Investigators said the breach was limited, involving about 40-50 people, and the Supreme Court ruled the exam's overall integrity remained intact, rejecting calls for a re-test.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Rural communities cannot build their futures by rejecting new technology before it’s evaluated,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
He wrote the court’s four major rulings rejecting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
This probability is not even close to being sufficiently low to warrant rejecting our assumption of no ESP.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
