as in to refuse
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
fiercely independent, the elderly couple spurned all offers of financial help
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in refusal
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of spurn
Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2025
Ford canceled one family of EVs, then spurned its traditional engineering structure and staff to develop others.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2025
Shortly after spurning his conjugal love tent vehicle, Colby received a call from Pontiac with a proposition.
—EW.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Ford canceled one family of EVs, then spurned its traditional engineering structure and staff to develop others.
—Mark Phelan, Freep.com, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spurn
Noun
His 17 years as the school’s head football coach were among the most successful in school history and he was seen as a Wildcat icon, having spurned interest from bigger schools in order to remain with his alma mater.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2025
Ford canceled one family of EVs, then spurned its traditional engineering structure and staff to develop others.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2025
Shortly after spurning his conjugal love tent vehicle, Colby received a call from Pontiac with a proposition.
—EW.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Ford canceled one family of EVs, then spurned its traditional engineering structure and staff to develop others.
—Mark Phelan, Freep.com, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spurn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurn
Verb
-
The Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional the line-item veto in 1998, by which former President Bill Clinton unilaterally refused to spend money appropriated for particular purposes.—
Kevin R. Kosar,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
-
In June, the Democratic group of senators accused the Department of Education of refusing to comply with Warren's monthslong congressional investigation into what, if any, records have been accessed by DOGE employees that could be sensitive.—
Arthur Jones II,
ABC News,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In a sentencing order, the judge said Martinez’s refusal to express remorse for his criminal conduct closed off the judge’s ability to deliver a sentence lower than the 34 months requested by prosecutors.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Elsewhere, Javier Bardem arrived with a keffiyeh around his neck before using his red-carpet interviews to state his refusal to work with organizations affiliated with Israel.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In July 2007, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves after rejecting an eight-year, $140 million contract extension.—
Taylor Millard,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject ceding territory.—
Oleksandra Matviichuk,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
There was a unilateral rebuff toward the idea that the industry is experiencing a drummer shortage in general.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Local police sought to have an alert sent out the Friday before they were found dead, but the agency that manages the program in Washington state declined to do so.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Investors eventually demanded their money back, causing Artamonov to return less than $400,000 by paying original investors with money from new investors or by declining to reimburse them at all, the indictment said.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
If Helmy finds in the Party the kind of fellowship and outlet for his energies that a good career might otherwise have satisfied, Erich embraces his new identity with a snarling brutality that is a repudiation of his former sense of humiliation.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
19 Aug. 2025
-
And to be fair, most of the departures weren’t a repudiation of Amador’s appointment.—
David Lyman,
The Enquirer,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Larger than life, his creation repulses and torments him, and Victor spends the rest of his life both running from it and trying to destroy it.—
Ann Kowal Smith,
Forbes,
16 Dec. 2024
-
The optical, stop-motion, and puppetry effects alone should make Brain Damage a priority on your watchlist, but Henenlotter’s film excites and repulses on a deeper level.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Spurn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurn. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share