reject
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rejects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rejected,
past participle, past
-
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.
-
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
-
rejects
plural
verb
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to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
-
to throw out as useless or worthless; discard
-
to rebuff (a person)
-
(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
-
rejectsimple
-
rejectssimple
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have rejectedperfect
-
has rejectedperfect
-
am rejectingprogressive
-
are rejectingprogressive
-
is rejectingprogressive
-
have been rejectingperfect progressive
-
has been rejectingperfect progressive
Past
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rejectedsimple
-
had rejectedperfect
-
was rejectingprogressive
-
were rejectingprogressive
-
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:
About 64% of the engineering unit and 72% of the technical unit voted to reject the contract offer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
She urged the board to reject the rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
It urged cinemas to "act as gatekeepers for the audience, and clearly reject films that are obviously not up to standard instead of letting films like Niu Lai run rampant".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
"Ultimately, we want to turn the anti-tumor immunity back on in cancer patients so their own immune systems can reject the tumors," she said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
But the ruler could send anyone away if he so chose, and my face was more than enough reason for him to reject my presence.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
But the government rejects the criticism, arguing that it has invested in ground-based resources, which it says are more effective, and purchased helicopters for water-bombing operations, with deliveries of the aircraft under way.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The president of Buenos Aires' Banco Provincia, Juan Cuattromo, rejects the notion that Argentines are themselves to blame for getting in over their heads.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Kinder rejects criticism that aid agencies have had to compromise on principles to keep their projects in place.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Her film rejects the idea that one has to give up the close intimacies of friendship once you transition into a coupled-up phase of life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
He and Shackleton sat on the snow, picking and choosing among the best pictures, smashing the rejects as they went to keep from changing their minds.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
CEOs — even as 84% of shareholders rejected it and a Paramount sale nears an $887-million exit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Reports that the couple have turned to former Spice Girl Geri Horner and her husband Christian Horner for advice on life in the area have been rejected by Harry and Meghan's official spokesperson.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Workers rejected two proposed contracts before approving a six-year deal that included an immediate 10% raise and an $8,500 bonus for each worker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Signing a striker to replace Watkins will be harder than sourcing Konsa's replacement - on which Villa are already working, having had two bids rejected by Southampton for Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
The prosecutor rejected this argument, assuring the court no tainted evidence was needed to prove the defendants’ guilt.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
A federal district judge, rejecting that contract provision, ruled last month that GEO Group must let health inspectors in, writing that “GEO’s new contract cannot preempt state law, even if it purports to.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
And both have their reasons for rejecting science that interferes with their own interests.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
He is one of the very few local voices publicly rejecting the KWS preliminary findings, pointing out that no other animals have died.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
At first human operators were commonly rejecting the AI model’s recommendations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
It was not that she wanted to soothe Baby; it was that, day after day, she found herself rejecting the finality of Ugwu’s death.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
