reject

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English rejecten, from Latin rēiectus, past participle of rēicere, "to throw back", from rē-, back, + iacere, to throw. Displaced native Middle English forwerpen (“to reject”) (from Old English forweorpan), Middle English forcasten (“to reject, throw away”) (from Old Norse forkasta), Middle English skirpen (“to reject, spew out”) (from Old Norse skirpa (“to reject, spit out”)), Middle English wernen (“to refuse, reject”) (from Old English wiernan (“to refuse, reject”)), Middle English withchosen, withchesen (“to reject, choose against”) (from Old English wiþċēosan (“to reject”)).

Pronunciation

• (verb) enPR: rĭjĕkt', IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈdʒɛkt/
• (noun) enPR: rē'jĕkt, IPA^(key): /ˈɹiːdʒɛkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Verb

reject (third-person singular simple present rejects, present participle rejecting, simple past and past participle rejected)

1. (transitive) To refuse to accept.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:

     One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

   She even rejected my improved offer.

2. (basketball) To block a shot, especially if it sends the ball off the court.

Synonyms

• (refuse to accept): decline, refuse, turn down, repudiate, disown, abnegate, abjure, deny

Antonyms

• (refuse to accept): accept, take up

Translations

to throw away, reject — see discard

refuse to accept

• Arabic: رَفَضَ‏‎ (rafaḍa)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: rebutjar (ca), refusar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拒絕 (zh), 拒绝 (zh) (jùjué)

• Czech: odmítnout (cs), zamítnout
• Danish: afvise
• Dutch: verwerpen (nl), afwijzen (nl)
• Esperanto: malakcepti
• Finnish: hylätä (fi), torjua (fi)
• French: rejeter (fr)
• Galician: rexeitar (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: verwerfen (de), ablehnen (de), zurückweisen (de)
• Hungarian: visszautasít (hu), elvet (hu)
• Icelandic: hafna (is)
• Indonesian: menolak (id)
• Irish: eitigh
• Italian: respingere (it), rifiutare (it)

• Japanese: 拒絶する (ja) (きょぜつする, kyozetsu suru)
• Khmer: ច្រានចោល (craan caol)
• Korean: 거절하다 (ko) (geojeol-hada)
• Latin: negō
• Lithuanian: atmesti
• Maori: ākiri, hape, whakahoe, hoehoe
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: avslå (no), avvise
• Polish: odrzucać (pl) impf, odrzucić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: rejeitar (pt)
• Romanian: respinge (ro), refuza (ro)
• Russian: отверга́ть (ru) impf (otvergátʹ), отве́ргнуть (ru) pf (otvérgnutʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: rach an aghaidh, diùlt
• Spanish: rechazar (es)
• Swedish: avslå (sv), avvisa (sv), avfärda (sv), rata (sv)
• Telugu: తిరస్కరించు (te) (tiraskariṃcu)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: reddetmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Noun

reject (plural rejects)

1. Something that is rejected.
2. (derogatory slang) An unpopular person.

Synonyms

• (something that is rejected): castaway
• (an unpopular person): outcast, castaway, alien

Translations

something that is rejected

• Finnish: rejekti, hylky (fi)
• Maori: paruranga

• Polish: odrzut m
• Spanish: artículo defectuoso m

slang: an unpopular person

• Finnish: hylkiö (fi)

• Spanish: marginado (es) m, marginada (es) f

Related terms

• rejection