1 denial | Definition of denial
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denial

noun
de·​ni·​al | \ di-ˈnÄ«(-É™)l How to pronounce denial (audio) , dÄ“-\

Definition of denial

1 : refusal to satisfy a request or desire the denial of privileges
2a(1) : refusal to admit the truth or reality of something (such as a statement or charge) their denial of the divine right of kings
(2) : assertion that an allegation is false her denial that she was involved
b : refusal to acknowledge a person or a thing : disavowal his denial of his youngest son
3 law : the opposing by the defendant of an allegation (see allegation sense 2) of the opposite party in a lawsuit their denial of the plaintiff's allegations
4 : self-denial … a man in denial about his receding hairline. — Playboy
5 logic : negation sense 1b
6 psychology : a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality
in denial
: refusing to admit the truth or reality of something unpleasant a patient in denial about his health problems
Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about denial

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Examples of denial in a Sentence

She issued a flat denial of the charges made against her. The accusations have met with angry denials from school officials. The city government has been heavily criticized for its denial of the seriousness of the situation. The hardest part of the punishment was the denial of his right to see his children. The group is protesting the denial of voting rights to convicted felons. The lawyers were disappointed by the court's denial of their motion to dismiss the case.
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Recent Examples on the Web

 Maybe more truth about what people of color live with would help others stop living in denial. — USA TODAY, "'It's real. It's violent': After El Paso, Latinos across America live in fear," 16 Aug. 2019 Lonzo Ball, though, does not appear to be in denial about Big Baller Brand’s situation. — Andrew Joseph, For The Win, "Lonzo Ball told LaVar that Big Baller Brand is 'demolished'," 14 Aug. 2019 Cloudflare, the internet infrastructure company that provides content delivery services and protection against denial-of-service attacks across the internet, cut service with 8chan on Sunday, following the attack. — Timothy Mclaughlin, WIRED, "The Weird, Dark History of 8chan," 6 Aug. 2019 Cloudflare’s decision leaves 8chan vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. — Patrick Lucas Austin, Time, "What Is 8chan, and How Is It Related to This Weekend's Shootings? Here's What to Know," 5 Aug. 2019 But the federation is still in denial; this week, U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro tried to refute the grounds for the lawsuit, to great ridicule. — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, "U.S. Soccer entrusted with replacing coach Jill Ellis. What could go wrong?," 31 July 2019 Billed collectively as Urgent 11, the vulnerabilities consist of six remote code flaws and five less-severe issues that allow things like information leaks and denial-of-service attacks. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "200 million devices—some mission-critical—vulnerable to remote takeover," 29 July 2019 For the past several days, the member of the Derp hacker group had anonymously carried out distributed denial-of-service attacks against gaming services, bragging about his abilities and taking requests for where to strike next. — Kristina Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, "‘DerpTrolling’ hacker gets 27 months prison in gaming denial-of-service attacks," 3 July 2019 Pavel Durov said the denial-of-service attacks were timed to coincide with protests in Hong Kong, which have been partly coordinated via Telegram. — David Meyer, Fortune, "Mark Zuckerberg's Privacy Practices: CEO Daily," 13 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'denial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of denial

1528, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for denial

see deny

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More Definitions for denial

denial

noun
How to pronounce denial (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of denial

: a statement saying that something is not true or real : a statement in which someone denies something
psychology : a condition in which someone will not admit that something sad, painful, etc., is true or real
: the act of not allowing someone to have something

See the full definition for denial in the English Language Learners Dictionary

denial

noun
de·​ni·​al | \ di-ˈnÄ«-É™l How to pronounce denial (audio) \

Kids Definition of denial

1 : a refusal to give or agree to something asked for a denial of the request
2 : a refusal to admit the truth of a statement a denial of the accusation
3 : a refusal to accept or believe in someone or something He repeated his denial of the existence of ghosts.
4 : a cutting down or limiting a denial of his appetite

denial

noun
de·​ni·​al | \ di-ˈnÄ«(-É™)l How to pronounce denial (audio) \

Medical Definition of denial

: a psychological defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality

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