Meanings
nounrefusal (countable and uncountable, plural refusals)
plural refusals
- countableuncountableThe act of refusing.
Your refusal to carry out your duties resulted in your sacking.
Synonyms: abnegation, declination, repudiation, abnegation, declination, denial, turndown, disapproval
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe act of refusing.
Origin
- Middle Englishrefusell
- Middle Englishrefusell
- Englishrefusal
Inherited from Middle English refusell. By surface analysis, refuse + -al.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إِنْكَار, رَفْض
- إِنْكَار (ʔinkār)the act of refusing
- رَفْض (rafḍ)the act of refusing
- إِبَاء (ʔibāʔ)the act of refusing
Bulgarian о́тказ
- о́тказ (ótkaz)the act of refusing
Catalan rebuig, refús
- rebuigthe act of refusing
- refústhe act of refusing
Chinese Cantonese 拒絕 /拒绝
- 拒絕 /拒绝 (keoi⁵ zyut⁶)the act of refusing
Chinese Mandarin 拒絕 /拒绝
- 拒絕 /拒绝 (jùjué)the act of refusing
Czech odmítnutí
- odmítnutíthe act of refusing
Danish afslag
- afslagthe act of refusing
Dutch weigering, afwijzing
- weigeringthe act of refusing
- afwijzingthe act of refusing
Esperanto rifuzo
- rifuzothe act of refusing
Estonian keeldumine
- keelduminethe act of refusing
Finnish kieltäytyminen, torjuminen
- kieltäytyminenthe act of refusing
- torjuminenthe act of refusing
French refus
- refusthe act of refusing
German Ablehnung, Weigerung
- Ablehnungthe act of refusing
- Weigerungthe act of refusing
- Verweigerungthe act of refusing
- Absagethe act of refusing
Hindi इनकार
- इनकार (inkār)the act of refusing
Hungarian elutasítás, visszautasítás
- elutasításthe act of refusing
- visszautasításthe act of refusing
Indonesian penolakan
- penolakanthe act of refusing
Irish éaradh, eiteach
- éaradhthe act of refusing
- eiteachthe act of refusing
Italian rifiuto
- rifiutothe act of refusing
Japanese 拒絶, 拒否
- 拒絶 (kyozetsu)the act of refusing
- 拒否 (kyohi)the act of refusing
- 断り (kotowari)the act of refusing
Korean 거절, 거부
- 거절 (geojeol)the act of refusing
- 거부 (geobu)the act of refusing
Latin negātiō
- negātiōthe act of refusing
Latvian noraidīšana, atteikums
- noraidīšanathe act of refusing
- atteikumsthe act of refusing
- noraidījumsthe act of refusing
Lithuanian atsisakymas
- atsisakymasthe act of refusing
Māori whakakorenga
- whakakorengathe act of refusing
Norwegian Bokmål avslag
- avslagthe act of refusing
Polish odmowa
- odmowathe act of refusing
Portuguese recusa, negativa
- recusathe act of refusing
- negativathe act of refusing
Romanian refuz
- refuzthe act of refusing
Russian отка́з
- отка́з (otkáz)the act of refusing
Scottish Gaelic diùltadh
- diùltadhthe act of refusing
Slovak odmietnutie
- odmietnutiethe act of refusing
Spanish negativa, rechazo
- negativathe act of refusing
- rechazothe act of refusing
Swedish vägran, avslag
- vägranthe act of refusing
- avslagthe act of refusing
Ukrainian відмо́ва
- відмо́ва (vidmóva)the act of refusing
Urdu اِنْکار
- اِنْکار (inkār)the act of refusing
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with refusal
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
refusal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refusal
MLA
“refusal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refusal. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “refusal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refusal.
Source: refusal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.