Dictionary

deny en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /dəˈnaɪ/ (General-American)
• /dɪ-/ (General-American)
• /dɪˈnaɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• /di-/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier (“to deny, to repudiate”) (French dénier), from Latin denegare (“to deny, to refuse”), from de- (“away”) and negare (“to refuse”), the latter ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *né (“no, not”). Doublet of denegate.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To disallow or reject.
   • 'Do! pray do! I shall be the most miserable of men if you don't. You cannot be so cruel as to deny me a favour so easily granted and yet so highly prized!' pleaded he as ardently as if his life depended on it. 1847, Anne Brontë, chapter XVI, in Agnes Grey:
   • I wanted to go to the party, but I was denied.
   • The proposition that foreigners may be depriving British workers of their cod is politically potent. […] This argument, of course, denies the long British history of overfishing and the fact that the dread Spanish supertrawlers, which are now so universally denounced, wre a British invention. 1997, Mark Kurlansky, Cod, page 209:
2. (transitive) To assert that something is not true.
   • But Myler and Crone told the committee in September that they had made Murdoch aware at the 10 June 2008 meeting that hacking was not restricted to a single journalist. They claimed this was the reason Murdoch agreed to settle the Taylor's case. James Murdoch subsequently wrote to the committee to deny this. 2011 November 1, James Robinson, Lisa O'Carroll, “Phone hacking: NoW warned about 'culture of illegal information access'”, in The Guardian:
   • I deny that I was at the party.
   • to deny a rumour to deny an allegation
   • Everyone knows he committed the crime, but he still denies it.
   • [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […] 1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40:
3. (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
   • A mother who urgently needs a kidney transplant has branded the system which denied her the organs of her dying daughter as "ridiculous". 2008 April 12, “Mother denied daughter's organs”, in BBC:
   • To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it. 1754, Jonathan Edwards, An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions Respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency:
   • My father denied me a good education.
4. To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
5. (transitive) To prevent from scoring.
   • Another Karadeniz cross led to Cudicini's first save of the night, with the Spurs keeper making up for a weak punch by brilliantly pushing away Christian Noboa's snap-shot. Two more top-class stops followed quickly afterwards, first from Natcho's rasping shot which was heading into the top corner, and then to deny Ryazantsev at his near post. 2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:
6. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
   • Permission to leave these confines has only been granted on the conditions that we deny ourselves and blend in with the Straight Monolith 1971, Bart Moncq, Body Politic, number 1, page 8:
   • thou thrice denied, yet thrice beloved 1827, John Keble, The Christian Year:
   • the falsehood of denying his opinion 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:
   • Jesus prophesied that by the time the cock crowed, Peter would have denied him three times.
7. (obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).
   • if you deny to dance c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

Forms

Antonyms

allow · grant · confirm · affirm · grant

Deriveds

undenied · deniance · deny oneself · deniability · self-denying · delie · deniable · justice delayed is justice denied · undeniable · denier · deny of · plausibly deny · denyingly · undeniably · indeniably · redeny

Relateds

denial

Synonyms

disown · forswear · withsay · wash one's hands of · deny · renounce · renounce · repudiate · disclaim · disclaim · refute · contradict · abjure · forswear · forsay · disclaim · disavow · gainsay

Translations (110)

fi kiistää (to assert that something is not true) · pl kwestionować (to assert that something is not true) · la denego (to assert that something is not true) · ca negar (to assert that something is not true) · de verweigern (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · ko 부인하다 (to assert that something is not true) · gd diùlt (to assert that something is not true) · nl ontkennen (to assert that something is not true) · cs odepřít (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · eu ukatu (to assert that something is not true) · ast negar (to assert that something is not true) · sk popierať (to assert that something is not true) · nb benekte (to assert that something is not true) · he כָּפַר (to assert that something is not true) · ja 打ち消す (to assert that something is not true) · sv neka (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · cs zapírat (to assert that something is not true) · ru опроверга́ть (to assert that something is not true) · ru опрове́ргнуть (to assert that something is not true) · ga séan (to assert that something is not true) · bg отри́чам (to assert that something is not true) · gd àicheidh (to assert that something is not true) · la abnego (to assert that something is not true) · ms nafi (to assert that something is not true) · uk відкида́ти (to assert that something is not true) · arz انكر (to assert that something is not true) · pl przeczyć (to assert that something is not true) · cmn 否定 (to assert that something is not true) · zdj ukadhibisha (to assert that something is not true) · lmo negà (to assert that something is not true) · ga séan ar (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · az danmaq (to assert that something is not true) · ar نَفَى (to assert that something is not true) · pt negar (to assert that something is not true) · pl zaprzeczać (to assert that something is not true) · vec negar (to assert that something is not true) · cs popřít (to assert that something is not true) · sk poprieť (to assert that something is not true) · grc ἀρνέομαι (to assert that something is not true) · gl negar (to assert that something is not true) · scn nigari (to assert that something is not true) · vi chối (to assert that something is not true) · cs zapřít (to assert that something is not true) · fi kieltää (to assert that something is not true) · es impugnar (to assert that something is not true) · es negar (to assert that something is not true) · cs odpírat (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · acw جحد (to assert that something is not true) · vo noön (to assert that something is not true) · nl weigeren (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · lad inyegar (to assert that something is not true) · cmn 否認 /否认 (to assert that something is not true) · cs popírat (to assert that something is not true) · eo nei (to assert that something is not true) · id pungkir (to assert that something is not true) · wa disminti (to assert that something is not true) · el αρνούμαι (to assert that something is not true) · got 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌲𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to assert that something is not true) · fur neâ (to assert that something is not true) · enm denyen (to assert that something is not true) · hu megtagad (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · ja 否む (to assert that something is not true) · el διαψεύδω (to assert that something is not true) · bg опроверга́вам (to assert that something is not true) · da benægte (to assert that something is not true) · af ontken (to assert that something is not true) · la dēmō (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · fr démentir (to assert that something is not true) · he הכחיש (to assert that something is not true) · de leugnen (to assert that something is not true) · is synja um (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · wa noyî (to assert that something is not true) · lt neigti (to assert that something is not true) · be адмаўля́ць (to assert that something is not true) · de bestreiten (to assert that something is not true) · ko 부정하다 (to assert that something is not true) · hy հերքել (to assert that something is not true) · ang wiþsacan (to assert that something is not true) · hu tagad (to assert that something is not true) · hy ժխտել (to assert that something is not true) · it negare (to assert that something is not true) · vi chối bỏ (to assert that something is not true) · de dementieren (to assert that something is not true) · uk відхилити (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · ru отве́ргнуть (to assert that something is not true) · ro nega (to assert that something is not true) · uk запере́чувати (to assert that something is not true) · es salir al paso de (to assert that something is not true) · fr nier (to assert that something is not true) · ru отверга́ть (to assert that something is not true) · is neita (to assert that something is not true) · da nægte (to assert that something is not true) · th ปฏิเสธ (to assert that something is not true) · mi whawhati (to assert that something is not true) · pl negować (to assert that something is not true) · acw انكر (to assert that something is not true) · fr refuser (to refuse to give or grant something to someone) · nn fornekte (to assert that something is not true) · eu ezeztatu (to assert that something is not true) · sv förneka (to assert that something is not true) · ru отрица́ть (to assert that something is not true) · la negō (to assert that something is not true) · az inkar etmək (to assert that something is not true) · ja 否定する (to assert that something is not true) · km ប្រកែក (to assert that something is not true) · la infitior (to assert that something is not true) · tr inkâr etmek (to assert that something is not true) · nb fornekte (to assert that something is not true) · sq mohoj (to assert that something is not true) · es denegar (to refuse to give or grant something to someone)