Meanings
present singular third person rejects · participle present rejecting · participle past rejected · past rejected
- transitiveTo refuse to accept; to forswear.
She even rejected my improved offer.
1 more example
One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
plural rejects
- Something that is rejected.
Almost all line segments will be trivial accepts or trivial rejects, so the above covers the vast majority of cases.
1996, Jim Blinn, Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline, page 127Synonyms: castaway
- colloquialA rejected defective product in a production line.
In all of India, China, Africa, and much of the southern American continent, those who had the leisure and wallet for fashion […] would have killed for the street merchandise of Manhattan, as also for […] the reject china and designer-label bargains to be found in downtown discount emporia.
2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 6
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething that is rejected.
nounA rejected takeoff.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality
verbnot accept as true
verbreject with contempt
verbresist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ
verbrefuse entrance or membership
verbdismiss from consideration or a contest
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinreiectus
- Middle Englishrejecten
- Englishreject
From Late Middle English rejecten, from Latin reiectus, past participle of reicere (“to throw back”), from re- (“back”) + iacere (“to throw”). Displaced native Old English āweorpan (literally “to throw out”).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀναίνομαι, ἀθετέω
- ἀναίνομαι (anaínomai)to refuse to accept
- ἀθετέω (athetéō)to refuse to accept
Arabic رَفَضَ
- رَفَضَ (rafaḍa)to refuse to accept
Basque atzera bota
- atzera botato refuse to accept
Bulgarian отхвърлям, бракуван продукт
- отхвърлям (othvărljam)to refuse to accept
- бракуван продукт (brakuvan produkt)something that is rejected
Catalan rebutjar, refusar
- rebutjarto refuse to accept
- refusarto refuse to accept
Chinese Mandarin 拒絕 /拒绝, 拒絕 /拒绝
- 拒絕 /拒绝 (jùjué)to refuse to accept
- 拒絕 /拒绝 (jùjué)to refuse a romantic advance
Czech odmítnout, zamítnout
- odmítnoutto refuse to accept
- zamítnoutto refuse to accept
Danish afvise
- afviseto refuse to accept
Dutch verwerpen, afwijzen
- verwerpento refuse to accept
- afwijzento refuse to accept
Esperanto malakcepti, malagnoski
- malakceptito refuse to accept
- malagnoskito refuse to accept
Finnish hylätä, torjua
- hylätäto refuse to accept
- torjuato refuse to accept
- torjuato refuse a romantic advance
- rejektisomething that is rejected
- hylkysomething that is rejected
- hylkiöslang: an unpopular person
French rejeter
- rejeterto refuse to accept
German verwerfen, ablehnen
- verwerfento refuse to accept
- ablehnento refuse to accept
- zurückweisento refuse to accept
Greek απορρίπτω
- απορρίπτω (aporrípto)to refuse to accept
Hindi अस्वीकार करना
- अस्वीकार करना (asvīkār karnā)to refuse to accept
Hungarian visszautasít, elvet
- visszautasítto refuse to accept
- elvetto refuse to accept
- elutasítto refuse to accept
- visszadobto refuse to accept
- kikosarazto refuse a romantic advance
- selejtsomething that is rejected
- kiselejtezett holmisomething that is rejected
- kiszuperált holmisomething that is rejected
Icelandic hafna
- hafnato refuse to accept
Indonesian menolak
- menolakto refuse to accept
Irish eitigh
- eitighto refuse to accept
Italian respingere, rifiutare
- respingereto refuse to accept
- rifiutareto refuse to accept
Japanese 拒絶する
- 拒絶する (kyozetsu suru)to refuse to accept
Korean 거절하다
- 거절하다 (geojeol-hada)to refuse to accept
Latin negō, spernō
- negōto refuse to accept
- spernōto refuse to accept
Lithuanian atmesti
- atmestito refuse to accept
Māori ākiri, hape
- ākirito refuse to accept
- hapeto refuse to accept
- whakahoeto refuse to accept
- hoehoeto refuse to accept
- parurangasomething that is rejected
- whakarerengasomething that is rejected
Norwegian avslå, avvise
- avslåto refuse to accept
- avviseto refuse to accept
Polish odrzucać, odrzucić
- odrzucaćto refuse to accept
- odrzucićto refuse to accept
- odrzutsomething that is rejected
Portuguese rejeitar
- rejeitarto refuse to accept
Romanian respinge, refuza
- respingeto refuse to accept
- refuzato refuse to accept
Russian отверга́ть, отве́ргнуть
- отверга́ть (otvergátʹ)to refuse to accept
- отве́ргнуть (otvérgnutʹ)to refuse to accept
- отмета́ть (otmetátʹ)to refuse to accept
- отмести́ (otmestí)to refuse to accept
- отшивать (otšivatʹ)to refuse a romantic advance
- отвергать (otvergatʹ)to refuse a romantic advance
Scottish Gaelic rach an aghaidh, diùlt
- rach an aghaidhto refuse to accept
- diùltto refuse to accept
Spanish rechazar, desestimar
- rechazarto refuse to accept
- desestimarto refuse to accept
- inadmitirto refuse to accept
- plaguearto refuse to accept
- descartarto refuse to accept
- chotearto refuse a romantic advance
- bocharto refuse a romantic advance
- dar bocheto refuse a romantic advance
- dar un bocheto refuse a romantic advance
- artículo defectuososomething that is rejected
- marginadoslang: an unpopular person
- marginadaslang: an unpopular person
Swedish avslå, avvisa
- avslåto refuse to accept
- avvisato refuse to accept
- avfärdato refuse to accept
- ratato refuse to accept
Tagalog itanggi
- itanggito refuse to accept
Thai ปฏิเสธ
- ปฏิเสธ (bpà-dtì-sèet)to refuse to accept
Turkish reddetmek
- reddetmekto refuse to accept
Ukrainian відкида́ти, відки́нути
- відкида́ти (vidkydáty)to refuse to accept
- відки́нути (vidkýnuty)to refuse to accept
Vietnamese từ chối
- từ chốito refuse to accept
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with reject
Cite this entry
reject. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reject
“reject.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reject. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reject,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reject.
Source: reject on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.