refusal

/riˈfjuzəl/

/rɪˈfjuzəl/

Other forms: refusals

A refusal is when you absolutely won't do something. A little kid's refusal to eat his broccoli might result in his mother's refusal to take him out for ice cream after dinner.

When something is refused, or a person refuses to do something, it's a refusal. There's a stubborn quality to the word refusal, like a defiant child who won't be swayed. There is a legal term called the "right of first refusal," which gives a person an opportunity to buy or do something first, before anyone else has a chance, or to refuse the opportunity. The Latin root word is refundere, "pour back or give back."

Definitions of refusal

1. noun

   the act of refusing
   types:

   repudiation

   refusal to acknowledge or pay a debt or honor a contract (especially by public authorities)

   prohibition

   refusal to approve or assent to

   interdiction

   authoritative prohibition

   ban, banning, forbiddance, forbidding

   an official prohibition or edict against something

   type of:

   denial

   the act of refusing to comply (as with a request)
2. noun

   a message refusing to accept something that is offered
   types:

   declination, regrets

   a polite refusal of an invitation

   type of:

   content, message, subject matter, substance

   what a communication that is about something is about