disavow
verb
Simple meaning
Refuse to acknowledge.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihsuhvowSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪsəˈvaʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Refuse to acknowledge; disclaim knowledge of; responsibility for, or association with
“Her husband disavowed her after 30 years of marriage and six children.”
transitive
To strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like.
transitive
To deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Refuse to acknowledge; disclaim knowledge of; responsibility for, or association with
Used this way, disavow is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Her husband disavowed her after 30 years of marriage and six children.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.