rebuff 1 of 2

as in dismissal
treatment that is deliberately unfriendly took her rebuff in stride, and still greeted her cousin with a friendly smile the next time they met

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rebuff

2 of 2

verb

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 rebuff
Verb
The Joe Biden administration had reportedly rebuffed India’s interest in exploring a free trade agreement, Indian local media reported, citing the country’s commerce and industry minister. Anniek Bao, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2025 In defence, Newcastle rebuffed late EFL interest in Matt Targett to permit Kelly to leave. Sam Lee, The Athletic, 5 Feb. 2025 China has rebuffed past American efforts to draw it into nuclear arms talks, saying the U.S. and Russia first need to reduce their much larger arsenals. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 15 Feb. 2025 Lorne Michaels once rebuffed Taylor Swift’s efforts to get a Saturday Night Live sketch lightly spoofing her 1989-era squad days, according to a new story in New York Magazine. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rebuff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebuff
Noun
  • Danielle Sassoon, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, resigned in refusal to carry out the Justice Department’s directive to file the dismissal.
    Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
  • The Houston Chronicle reported that NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has informed employees still in their probationary period to prepare for dismissal.
    Matt Robison, Newsweek, 19 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Many high-end chocolatiers use fresh fruit or nuts, and spurn preservatives that might compromise flavor or texture.
    Matthew Korfhage, WIRED, 15 Feb. 2025
  • All in all, 12 team-mates have spurned opportunities generated by his passes in the last three months, detailed in the graphic below: Nicolas Jackson, amid an eight-game scoring drought in the Premier League, is unsurprisingly the biggest culprit.
    Liam Twomey, The Athletic, 12 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Norman Powell was already a high-profile All-Star snub, one who not only has never made it to the game before but is also on the other side of 30.
    Law Murray, The Athletic, 18 Feb. 2025
  • So how should a movie press on after the directors’ branch delivers a snub?
    Kyle Buchanan, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Most of the speakers at Tuesday’s meeting scorned a study by Raleigh’s Administrative Office of the Courts on workloads and staffing needs.
    Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 18 Feb. 2025
  • Is his tendency to scorn sentimentality on sight a put-on or a character flaw?
    Rhoda Feng, Vulture, 3 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Larger than life, his creation repulses and torments him, and Victor spends the rest of his life both running from it and trying to destroy it.
    Ann Kowal Smith, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
  • The optical, stop-motion, and puppetry effects alone should make Brain Damage a priority on your watchlist, but Henenlotter’s film excites and repulses on a deeper level.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
Verb
  • But the Gaza proposal should be seen in the context of a president who believes fervently in his own power of persuasion, who disdains traditional diplomacy, and whose Mideast envoy is a businessman with no experience in that field.
    Howard LaFranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Feb. 2025
  • For the Post’s editorial board to disdain substantial Chinese production for the rest of the world is for those same editorialists to disdain the division of labor that is at the root of all productive advance.
    John Tamny, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Despite facing rejection, including a harsh encounter with a former instructor, Hackman remained determined.
    Megan Cartwright, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Other Republicans were more blunt in their rejection of the idea.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 26 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Never the favorite of his party's professional advisers, Merz was twice rejected as Merkel's successor as party leader, in 2018 and 2021, before his doggedness won out in 2022.
    Thomas Escritt, USA TODAY, 24 Feb. 2025
  • When this innate drive for self-expansion is unfulfilled within the current relationship, individuals may seek it elsewhere—including through infidelity. Cheating, in this case, isn’t necessarily about rejecting a relationship but about reclaiming a lost sense of self.
    Mark Travers, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025

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“Rebuff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebuff. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

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