Word of the Day

: January 7, 2018

gainsay

verb gayn-SAY

What It Means

1 : to declare to be untrue or invalid

2 : contradict, oppose

gainsay in Context

There is no doubt that their work makes a useful contribution, but it does not provide enough evidence to gainsay the conclusions of earlier scholars.

"There is no gainsaying the fact that we have an obesity problem in the United States." — Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, The Buffalo News, 9 Dec. 2015

Did You Know?

You might have trouble figuring out gainsay if you're thinking of our modern gain plus say. It should help to know that the gain- part is actually related to against—specifically the Old English prefix gēan- ("against, in opposition to"). From that came Middle English gain-, which was joined with sayen ("to say") to form gainsayen, the Middle English predecessor of gainsay. So when you see gainsay, think "to say against"—that is, "to deny" or "to contradict."