denial

CEFRC1

/dɪˈnaɪ.əl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A refusal to accept that something is true or happened.
02
noun
Extra detail
A refusal or failure to provide or grant something that is requested or desired.

Examples

His public denial of the allegations did not convince the public.
She's in total denial about her husband's philandering.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

The negation in logic.
An assertion of untruth.
Refusal to believe that a problem exists.

More examples

In context

The police didn't believe his denial.
The denial of medical treatment to those who cannot afford to pay is scandalous.
The singer has issued a sweeping denial of all the rumors.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

His stubborn blank of the evidence frustrated the entire team.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.
2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
Denial is the first act when the perpetrator refutes the very nature of the planned measures, explaining the steps as justified and legitimate actions to cope with the identified problem. The denial then lives on during the different stages of the genocide and is invoked continuously by the perpetrator whenever its actions are criticized or labeled as atrocities and unlawful. At the end, once the practical stages have had their course, all that remains and thrives is the denial.
2013, Vahagn Avedian, “Recognition, Responsibility and Reconciliation: The Trinity of the Armenian Genocide”, in Europa Ethnica, volume 70, number 3/4, →ISSN, pages 77–86
The sheer length of the list demonstrates the hold denial wields over states and societies, a power that may be best understood empirically by delving further into the two best-documented cases of Holocaust and Armenian [genocide] denial.
2015, Fatma Müge Göçek, Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present and Collective Violence Against the Armenians, 1789-2009, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 6
However, just as genocide is understood by some—including Raphael Lemkin—as a kind of radical, perverse act of creation, so too, denial does not aim only at a negation of reality but also at the creation of a new reality.
2015, Marc Mamigonian, “Academic Denial of the Armenian Genocide in American Scholarship: Denialism as Manufactured Controversy”, in Genocide Studies International, volume 9, number 1, →DOI, pages 61–82
"Denial" came out of the therapyspeak prevalent in the middle of the 20th century, especially as it was applied to confronting the reality of mortality. It was popularized as the first stage of grief, and quickly expanded to include refusal to confront any bad news or disturbing ideas.
2007 February 11, “No facts, just emotion”, in Washington Times, retrieved 11 Jun 2013

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Origin

noun

From deny + -al.

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

Quick test

His stubborn blank— of the evidence frustrated the entire team.

Nearby

Origin

noun

His stubborn blank of the evidence frustrated the entire team.