repudiate

Definition

To reject the truth or validity of; to deny.

Etymology

First attested in 1543; from Latin repudiātus, the perfect passive participle of repudiō (“to cast off, reject”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from repudium (“rejection, repudiation, divorce”).

Example Sentences

• "The fierce willingness to repudiate domination in a holistic manner is the starting point for progressive cultural revolution."
• "It was not enough just to shoot the Old Bolsheviks; Stalin had to have the show trials. He had to demonstrate publicly that these men of enormous energy and spirit were so utterly broken as to openly repudiate themselves and all they had fought for."
• "I disagreed completely—and still do—with President Nixon's initiative to "normalize" relations with the People's Republic of China. The American people—against the will of the majority, if the polls are correct—have been forced to go along with the Carter administration's decision to repudiate our mutual defense treaty with the free Chinese regime on Taiwan, and to give Peking the diplomatic and economic muscle to seriously impair the security and prosperity of the seventeen million people on the island. This is a strange way to reward a loyal ally whose hardworking and creative citizens have made their country a model success story for the capitalistic free-enterprise system."