reject
Americanverb (used with object)
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to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc..
to reject the offer of a better job.
- Synonyms:
- deny
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to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- deny
-
to refuse to accept (someone or something); rebuff.
The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.
-
to discard as useless or unsatisfactory.
The mind rejects painful memories.
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to cast out or eject; vomit.
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to cast out or off.
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Medicine/Medical. (of a human or other animal) to have an immunological reaction against (a transplanted organ or grafted tissue).
If tissue types are not matched properly, a patient undergoing a transplant will reject the graft.
noun
verb
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to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
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to throw out as useless or worthless; discard
-
to rebuff (a person)
-
(of an organism) to fail to accept (a foreign tissue graft or organ transplant) because of immunological incompatibility
noun
Synonym Usage
See refuse 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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prerejectverb (used with object)
-
rejectiveadjective
-
rejectionnoun
-
rejecternoun
-
quasi-rejectedadjective
-
unrejectableadjective
-
rejectableadjective
-
unrejectedadjective
-
unrejectiveadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has rejectedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have rejectedperfect
-
have been rejectingperfect progressive
-
is rejectingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
am rejectingprogressive 1st person singular
-
are rejectingprogressive
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rejectssingular 3rd person
-
rejectingparticiple
-
has been rejectingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had rejectedperfect
-
had been rejectingperfect progressive
-
were rejectingprogressive plural
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rejectedsimple
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rejectedparticiple
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was rejectingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of reject
First recorded in 1485–95; (verb) from Latin rējectus, past participle of rējicere “to throw back,” equivalent to re- re- + jec-, combining form of jacere “to throw” + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
When you reject something, you rule it out or dismiss it. If you're trying to pick a fancy restaurant to go to for your birthday, you'll probably reject the diner you went to just yesterday. The verb reject has several shades of meaning. Reject can mean to refuse to accept or agree with something. If you don't believe space aliens are living on earth, you reject the idea — you just don't believe it. Reject can also mean to treat someone with contempt: "My former best friend rejected me to hang out with a different crowd — but I found new friends with whom I had more in common."
Vocabulary lists containing reject
Dissed List: Breakup Words for Valentine's Day
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 3
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Schooled
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Service companies often reject the suggestion that diagnostic or investigation fees are simply a form of upselling.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
Which - those cynics would say - is all the more reason for the FIA to reject it.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
She says that people reject AI slop because “it feels really easy. It’s throwaway, it’s superficial,” whereas artists like Anadol are, “showing how much work went into it.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
If management refuses to yield in its quest for a salary cap—something the players have vowed to reject under any circumstance—that streak could soon end.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
I keep trying to come up with something to say, but nothing seems right, and I reject so many words I end up staying silent.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
