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refuse

verb · noun · adjective

Simple meaning

To decline a request or demand.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ruhfyooz

Say the bold part a little louder.

noun: refyoossverb: rihfyooz

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹəfˈjuz

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To decline a request or demand, forbear; to withhold permission.

  2. ditransitive

    To withhold (something) from (someone); to not give it to them or to bar them from having it.

  3. To fuse again, as with, or after, heating or melting.

noun

  1. Food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

  2. Collectively, items or material that have been discarded; rubbish, garbage.

adjective

  1. Discarded, rejected.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To decline a request or demand, forbear; to withhold permission.

Used this way, refuse is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately 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.

More ways to use refuse

  • “He refused my offer of hospitality.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

refuse treatment

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • refusalnounDerived noun

    The act of refusing.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • refuse collectornounCompound term

    Someone employed to collect and dispose of refuse.

  • refuse heapnounCompound term

    An accumulation of refuse and discarded matter.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to decline a request or demand or forbear

turn down

noun

Sense: food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

scrapsfood wasteRare

Say it better

Looking for a more precise alternative? “refuse” can mean several things.

I'm going to pass this time.Thanks for thinking of me, but I can't take this on.I don't have the capacity for this right now.

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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.