naysay

See also: nay-say

English

Etymology

From nay +‎ say.

Noun

naysay (plural naysays)

1. (chiefly US) Alternative spelling of nay-say
   • 1897, William Morris, “Chapter XII. Birdalone Cometh Again to the Isle of Queens, and Findeth a Perilous Adventure Therein”, in The Water of the Wondrous Isles (Fantasy), Project Gutenberg, published 2005:

     And her bare feet fell to telling her clad sides of the sweet coolness of the water, and waited for no naysay, ...

Verb

naysay (third-person singular simple present naysays, present participle naysaying, simple past and past participle naysaid)

1. (chiefly US) Alternative spelling of nay-say (“say no to; deny, disagree, or oppose”)
   • 1897, William Morris, “Chapter VI. Of the Sundering of Birdalone from Gerard and His Sons”, in The Water of the Wondrous Isles (Fantasy), Project Gutenberg, published 2005:

     I shall nowise naysay thee this, for I love thee, and now and ever shalt thou be unto me as a brother, ...

   • 2008 Jan, Arden Dale, “Want to Sell a Business? You May Not Be Ready.”, in Wall Street Journal‎^[1]:

     He advises that board members must have solid knowledge of business in general and be independent enough to naysay the owner at times.

   • 2009 Nov, Nicholas, “The March of the Surveillance State, comments”, in Spectator, UK‎^[2], column by Alex Massie:

     This amount of bureaucratic surveillance and cross-referencing is very resonant of East Germany (whatever the paranoia accusing naysayers naysay) ...

Synonyms

• gainsay

Antonyms

• yeasay

Derived terms

• naysayer

References

• “naysay”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)