deny
Etymology

From Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier (French dénier), from Latin denegare, from de- ("away") and negare ("to refuse"), the latter ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /dɪˈnaɪ/
  • (America) IPA: /dəˈnaɪ/, /dɪ-/
Verb

deny (denies, present participle denying; simple past and past participle denied)

  1. (transitive) To disallow or reject.
    Antonyms: grant
    I wanted to go to the party, but I was denied.
    • 1847, Anne Brontë, chapter XVI, in Agnes Grey:
      '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.
  2. (transitive) To assert that something is not true.
    I deny that I was at the party.
    Everyone knows he committed the crime, but he still denies it.
  3. (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
    Antonyms: grant
    My father denied me a good education.
    • 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:
      To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it.
  4. To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
  5. (sports, transitive) To prevent from scoring.
  6. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
    • 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 ↗:
      the falsehood of denying his opinion
    • 1827, John Keble, The Christian Year:
      thou thrice denied, yet thrice beloved
  7. (obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).
    • 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]:
      if you deny to dance
Conjugation Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “disallow”): allow
  • (antonym(s) of “assert something is true”): confirm, affirm
Related terms Translations Translations


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