was wotd|2006|October|6
English
Pronunciation
IPA|/�dɪs��va�/
audio|en-us-disavow.ogg|Audio (US)
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-a�|-a�
Verb
en-verb
- To refuse strongly and solemnly to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like; to disclaim; to disown.
#:He was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the crime.
- To deny; to show the contrary of; to disprove.
#:Because of her dissatisfation, she now disavows the merits of socialism.
Quotations
1809 � w:James Madison|James Madison, s:James Madison's First State of the Union address|First State of the Union address
:These considerations not having restrained the British Government from disavowing the arrangement by virtue of which its orders in council were to be revoked, and the event authorizing the renewal of commercial intercourse having thus not taken place, it necessarily became a question of equal urgency and importance whether the act prohibiting that intercourse was not to be considered as remaining in legal force.
1884 � w:Edwin Abbott Abbott|Edwin Abbott Abbott, s:Flatland|Flatland
:In a still more obscure passage he now desires to disavow the Circular or aristocratic tendencies with which some critics have naturally credited him.
1901 � w:H. G. Wells|H. G. Wells, s:The First Men in the Moon|The First Men in the Moon, ch 12
:It came to me as an absolute, for a moment an overwhelming shock. It seemed as though it wasn't a face, as though it must needs be a mask, a horror, a deformity, that would presently be disavowed or explained.
Synonyms
italbrac|to refuse to own: abjure, deny, disclaim, disown, reject
italbrac|to deny or show the contrary of: deny, disprove, impugn, reject, repudiate
Antonyms
italbrac|to refuse to own: accept, own up
italbrac|to deny or show the contrary of: accept, prove
Translations
trans-top|to refuse to own or acknowledge
French: désavouer
trans-bottom
trans-top|to deny or show the contrary of
Finnish: kiistää, kieltää
French: désavouer, désapprouver
trans-bottom
Related terms
disavowal
disavowed
fr:disavow
io:disavow
te:disavow
vi:disavow
zh:disavow
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