repudiate

/rɪˈpjudieɪt/

/rɪˈpjudieɪt/

Other forms: repudiated; repudiating; repudiates

To repudiate something is to reject it, or to refuse to accept or support it. If you grow up religious, but repudiate all organized religion as an adult, you might start spending holidays at the movies, or just going to work.

This verb usually refers to rejecting something that has authority, such as a legal contract, doctrine, or claim. In connection with debts or other obligations, repudiate is used in the specialized sense "to refuse to recognize or pay." If referring to a child or a romantic parner, repudiate is used in the sense "to disown, cast off." This verb is derived from Latin repudiare, "to put away, divorce."

Definitions of repudiate

1. verb

   refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
   “The woman repudiated the divorce settlement”

   type of:

   reject

   refuse to accept or acknowledge
2. verb

   refuse to recognize or pay
   “repudiate a debt”

   type of:

   balk, decline, refuse

   show unwillingness towards
3. verb

   reject as untrue, unfounded, or unjust
   “She repudiated the accusations”

   type of:

   deny

   declare untrue; contradict
4. verb

   cast off
   “The parents repudiated their son”

   synonyms: disown, renounce

   types:

   apostatise, apostatize, tergiversate

   abandon one's beliefs or allegiances

   abjure, forswear, recant, resile, retract

   formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

   swallow, take back, unsay, withdraw

   take back what one has said

   confound, rebut, refute

   overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof

   deny

   refuse to accept or believe

   abnegate

   deny or renounce

   contradict, controvert, oppose

   be resistant to

   answer

   give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument)

   type of:

   reject

   refuse to accept or acknowledge