rebuff

UK/ɹɪˈbʌf/US/ɹɪˈbʌf/

verbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,254 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: rebuffed, rebuffs, rebuffing

To rebuff is to refuse an offer sharply and unkindly. Rebuff the approach, rebuffed at every turn, a sharp rebuff.

The unkindness is the point, since a rebuff is a refusal delivered in a way that discourages asking again. It works as a noun too, and diplomatic reporting is full of them.

Definitions of rebuff

1verbrebuffTo refuse an offer sharply and unkindly.C1
“She rebuffed all his attempts to make friends and walked away.”

rebuff is a refusing.

Where it comes from

Old French rebuffer comes from Italian ribuffare, to reprimand or push back.

Italian
ribuffare
Middle French
rebuffer
French
rebuffer
English, today
rebuff

From obsolete French rebuffer, from Middle French rebuffer (compare rebiffer), from Italian ribuffare.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

rebuff in the wild

In this verse, Jesus quotes scripture to rebuff the devil.
Matthew 4:7
The principal writer was Peter Heylin but Birkenhead brought satire, slanders and incisive polemics which the parliamentary party found difficult to rebuff.
John Birkenhead
Altimo's efforts to expand into India met with a rebuff when the home ministry observed that Altimo and its parent company, Alpha, have a "tainted background".
Altimo
In the following years, the two girls lead very different lives - Poppy's family rebuff her, leaving her to serve her prison sentence alone.
The Ice Cream Girls
In the song, the singer is attempting to rebuff unwanted sexual advances following a date, including pressure to have a one-night stand.
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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