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Meaning & use

rejection

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/rɪˈdʒekʃn/
US/rɪˈdʒekʃn/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable or uncountable

    The act of refusing to accept, use or agree to someone or something.

    Grammar: Countable for a specific refusal: a rejection letter; uncountable for the general idea.

    Patterns

    • the rejection of something
    • a rejection from someone

    The board announced its rejection of the proposal.

    She received a rejection from the university in March.

    Voters showed their rejection of the new tax at the polls.

  2. noununcountable

    The painful experience of being refused or not wanted by other people.

    Grammar: Often follows fear of or feel: fear of rejection.

    Patterns

    • fear of rejection
    • feel rejection

    He avoided asking her out because of his fear of rejection.

    Rejection by his friends hurt more than he admitted.

    A child may feel rejection when a parent is always busy.

  3. noununcountablemedical

    The immune system's attack on a transplanted organ or tissue so that the body does not accept it.

    Grammar: Usually appears with organ or transplant.

    Patterns

    • organ rejection

    Doctors gave her drugs to prevent rejection of the new kidney.

    Signs of rejection appeared a few weeks after surgery.

    Matching donors carefully lowers the chance of rejection.

Word forms

pluralrejections

Common combinations

fear of rejection
Fear of rejection kept her from sharing her poems.
a rejection letter
He pinned the rejection letter above his desk for motivation.
face rejection
Writers often face rejection before getting published.
outright rejection
The offer met with outright rejection.
organ rejection
Organ rejection is a risk after any transplant.

Synonyms and how they differ

refusal
Refusal is the plain word for saying no to a request, while rejection often involves a judgment about quality or worth.
dismissal
Dismissal suggests quickly waving something off, as of an idea, and also means firing someone.
rebuff
A rebuff is a blunt, unfriendly refusal, so it is stronger and more personal.
denial
Denial can mean saying something is untrue, which rejection does not.

Opposites

acceptanceapproval

Word family

reject verb
to refuse to accept
reject noun
something or someone that is turned down
rejected adjective
turned down or not wanted
rejective adjective
tending to reject, rare

Commonly confused: rejection or ejection? rejection or objection?

rejection vs ejection

Ejection is pushing something out forcefully, as from a plane seat; rejection is refusing to accept.

rejection vs objection

An objection is a spoken protest, while rejection is a refusal.

Practice

After the transplant, the doctors watched carefully for signs of ___.

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