naysay

plural naysays

1. USalternativeAlternative form of nay-say.

   And her bare feet fell to telling her clad sides of the sweet coolness of the water, and waited for no naysay, ...

   1897, William Morris, “Chapter XII. Birdalone Cometh Again to the Isle of Queens, and Findeth a Perilous Adventure Therein”, in The Water of the Wondrous Isles (Fantasy), Project Gutenberg, published 2005

present singular third person naysays · participle present naysaying · participle past naysaid · past naysaid

1. USalternativeAlternative form of nay-say (“to say no to; deny, disagree, or oppose”)

   I shall nowise naysay thee this, for I love thee, and now and ever shalt thou be unto me as a brother, ...

   1897, William Morris, “Chapter VI. Of the Sundering of Birdalone from Gerard and His Sons”, in The Water of the Wondrous Isles (Fantasy), Project Gutenberg, published 2005

   2 more examples

   He advises that board members must have solid knowledge of business in general and be independent enough to naysay the owner at times.

   2008 Jan, Arden Dale, “Want to Sell a Business? You May Not Be Ready.”, in Wall Street Journal

   This amount of bureaucratic surveillance and cross-referencing is very resonant of East Germany (whatever the paranoia accusing naysayers naysay) ...

   2009 Nov, Nicholas, “The March of the Surveillance State, comments”, in Spectator, UK, column by Alex Massie

   Synonyms: gainsay · Antonyms: yeasay