DISOWN Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

disown

verb

(ˌ)dis-ˈōn

Definition of disown next

as in to deny

to declare not to be true he steadfastly disowned that he was having an affair

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to refuse

to refuse to acknowledge as one's own or as one's responsibility the dictatorial father angrily disowned his rebellious son

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of disown When Mary won’t give up the baby, she’s disowned by patriarch Whitelaw (Ed Harris) and exiled to New Jersey from her family’s palatial Long Island estate. —

Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Feb. 2026 Becket is broke, disowned and circling a family fortune that never wanted him. —

Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 18 Feb. 2026 They may be cut off from financial resources, disowned, or stripped of personal property and communal safety nets. —

Literary Hub, 18 Feb. 2026 In September 2025, it was revealed that Ferguson sent an email to Epstein apologizing for publicly disowning him in a March 2011 interview with the Evening Standard. —

Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 3 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for disown

Recent Examples of Synonyms for disown

Verb

Rivas led a recent charge to deny the renewal of Gabriella Charter School, which uses a substantial portion of the Echo Park campus where the district operates Logan Academy for Global Ecology.

— Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026
On Friday, Musk also denied a Bloomberg report that SpaceX valuation was lowered on Friday, reaffirming that the rocket and satellite company will have a blockbuster IPO and comfortably dominate against other historic IPO deals.

— Ananya Chetia, CNBC, 29 May 2026