Library / English Dictionary

REBUFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval)

Synonyms:

rebuff; slight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("rebuff" is a kind of...):

discourtesy; offence; offense; offensive activity (a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rebuff"):

cold shoulder; cut; snub (a refusal to recognize someone you know)

silent treatment (an aloof refusal to speak to someone you know)

Derivation:

rebuff (reject outright and bluntly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An instance of driving away or warding off

Synonyms:

rebuff; repulse; snub

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("rebuff" is a kind of...):

rejection (the speech act of rejecting)

Derivation:

rebuff (force or drive back)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reject outright and bluntly

Example:

She snubbed his proposal

Synonyms:

rebuff; repel; snub

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "rebuff" is one way to...):

disdain; freeze off; pooh-pooh; reject; scorn; spurn; turn down (reject with contempt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

rebuff (a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Force or drive back

Example:

rebuff the attack

Synonyms:

drive back; fight off; rebuff; repel; repulse

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "rebuff" is one way to...):

defend; fight; fight back; fight down; oppose (fight against or resist strongly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

rebuff (an instance of driving away or warding off)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It was vain to try to read with such an inscrutable fixture before me; nor could I, in impatience, consent to be dumb; he might rebuff me if he liked, but talk I would.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)