Meanings
verbdisavow (third-person singular simple present disavows, present participle disavowing, simple past and past participle disavowed)
present singular third person disavows · participle present disavowing · participle past disavowed · past disavowed
- transitiveTo strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like.
He was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the crime.
Synonyms: abjure, deny, disclaim, disown, reject · Antonyms: accept, own up
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like.
verbTo deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind.
More synonyms by meaning
verbrefuse to acknowledge; disclaim knowledge of; responsibility for, or association with
Opposite
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchdesavouer
- Englishdisavow
From dis- + avow, or from Old French desavouer.
More words from Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian отричам се, отказвам се
- отричам се (otričam se)to strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- отказвам се (otkazvam se)to deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
Czech popřít, neznat se
- popřítto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- neznat seto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- distancovat seto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- popřítto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
Dutch verloochenen, ontkennen
- verloochenento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- ontkennento deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
Esperanto malkonfesi, malagnoski
- malkonfesito strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- malagnoskito strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
Finnish kiistää, kieltää
- kiistääto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- kieltääto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
French désavouer, désavouer
- désavouerto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- désavouerto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- désapprouverto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
German abstreiten, leugnen
- abstreitento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- leugnento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- von sich weisento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- verleugnento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- sich distanzieren vonto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- desavouierento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- zurückweisento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- ableugnento strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- bestreitento deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- zurückweisento deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- in Abrede stellento deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- nicht anerkennento deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
Hungarian tagad, nem ismer el
- tagadto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- nem ismer elto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- visszautasítto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- vitatto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- elhatárolódikto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- elutasítto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
- dezavuálto deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
Latin diffiteor
- diffiteorto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
Māori whākorekore, whakahore
- whākorekoreto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- whakahoreto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
Norwegian fornekte
- fornekteto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
Russian отрекаться, дезавуировать
- отрекаться (otrekatʹsja)to strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
- дезавуировать (dezavuirovatʹ)to deny; to show the contrary of; to deny legitimacy or achievement of any kind
Spanish repudiar
- repudiarto strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
Swedish desavouera
- desavouerato strongly and solemnly refuse to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with disavow
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
disavow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disavow
MLA
“disavow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disavow. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disavow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disavow.
Source: disavow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.