reject
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Refuse to accept or acknowledge.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihjehktSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪˈdʒɛkt
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 accept or acknowledge
“I reject the idea of starting a war.”
transitive
To refuse to accept; to forswear.
transitive
To refuse a romantic advance.
Refuse entrance or membership
noun
The person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality
colloquial
A rejected defective product in a production line.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Refuse to accept or acknowledge
Used this way, reject is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“I reject the idea of starting a war.”
- 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.
More ways to use reject
- “I reject the idea of starting a war.”verb
- “His body rejected the liver of the donor.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The act of rejecting something.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Say it better
Looking for a more precise alternative? “reject” 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.