as in refuses
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
fiercely independent, the elderly couple spurned all offers of financial help
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Recent Examples of spurns
Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Verb
As the President insults allies, woos dictators, and spurns long-standing commitments, Rubio has to convince his counterparts that America will not entirely abandon its friends.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurns
Verb
-
Insurance bad faith claims can stem from different factors, including when an insurance company refuses to settle a claim within policy limits and therefore risks exposing its client to a larger liability at trial.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Like the impish anti-romance that crumbles around it, the movie’s twist is both transgressive enough to be pleased with itself and also rooted in a reality that refuses to be dismissed as a bad joke.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Olsson rejects The Athletic’s offer to take cover inside the coffee shop.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
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If the council rejects the one-year contract — which would cost $150,000 and provide 50 cameras at a maximum of 20 intersections — Johnston’s administration has said the program will shut down.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Jeannot is not wired to jump anybody who declines an invitation.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
New York Times,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Six out of the 10 top richest people in the world have experienced wealth declines between $30 and $60 billion this calendar year, totalling over $255 billion.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Today’s anything-goes, zero-sum war for attention ignores the lessons learned in the Golden Age of advertising in the 1960s, when brands were sold with thoughtful, artistic, wise and playful takes on the human condition.—
Bruce Stockler,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
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His inept Cabinet ignores, and actually encourages, his very weird and embarrassing meandering.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spurns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurns. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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