Don't refuse!

Question

what are the differences between "refuse"and "reject"?

Jhumjhum · Accepted Answer

Refuse means to show unwillingness to accept ,say or do something.She refused my offer of help.
Reject means to cansel/to fail to accept .This jersey is rejeced because of a flaw

Likeguslee · Answer

For a detailed discussion of these two verbs, please read the following usage note from American Heritage Dictionary.

Synonyms: refuse, decline, reject, spurn, rebuff. These verbs all mean to be unwilling to accept, consider, or receive someone or something. Refuse usually implies determination and often brusqueness: "The commander . . . refused to discuss questions of right" (George Bancroft). "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" (Mario Puzo). To decline is to refuse courteously: "I declined election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters some years ago, and now I must decline the Pulitzer Prize" (Sinclair Lewis). Reject suggests the discarding of someone or something as unsatisfactory, defective, or useless; it implies categoric refusal: "He again offered himself for enlistment and was again rejected" (Arthur S.M. Hutchinson). "Emphasize your choice by utter ignoring of all that you reject" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). To spurn is to reject scornfully or contemptuously: "The more she spurns my love,/The more it grows" (Shakespeare). Rebuff pertains to blunt, often disdainful rejection: "He had . . . forgotten himself, had gone too far in his advances, and had been rebuffed" (Robert Louis Stevenson).

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Anonymous · Answer

Dear teacher, Please explain the difference between refuse and deny, When to use refuse and when to use deny?

Thank you sirs,[F]

New student

Likeguslee · Answer

Deny verb, transitive denied, denying, denies

1. To declare untrue; contradict.

2. To refuse to believe; reject.

3. To refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disavow.

4. a. To decline to grant or allow; refuse: deny the student's request; denied the prisoner food or water. b. To give a refusal to; turn down or away: The protesters were determined not to be denied. c. To restrain (oneself) especially from indulgence in pleasures.

Synonyms: deny, contradict, contravene, disaffirm, gainsay, negate, negative, traverse. The central meaning shared by these verbs is "to refuse to admit the existence, truth, or value of": denied the rumor;

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Deny is a more restrictive form of refuse because it means “refuse to believe, refuse to recognize, refuse to acknowledge, refuse to admit the existence, truth or value of”

Deny is a transitive verb only. Therefore it must take a direct object. It cannot stand alone by itself. You cannot simply write, "I deny." It would not make sense. I deny what? I deny you the right to assemble => this would make sense.

On the other hand, refuse is both a transitive and an intransitive verb. As intransitive, it can stand by itself. Can you make coffee for me? No, I refuse.

Don't refuse!

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