rebuff
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 14, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n rebuff • \\rih-BUFF\\ • verb
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To rebuff something, such as an offer or suggestion, is to reject or criticize it sharply. One can also rebuff a person by rudely rejecting or refusing them.
\n\n// When their request was immediately rebuffed by upper management, the staff was left frustrated yet also more determined.
\n\n\n \n \n\n Examples:
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\u201cThe state rebuffed the lawyers\u2019 efforts to use the fees as seed money for a new technology system.\u201d \u2014 Robert T. Garrett, The Dallas (Texas) Morning News, 15 Feb. 2023
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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Many English verbs begin with the prefix re-, meaning \u201cagain\u201d or \u201cbackward,\u201d so we wouldn\u2019t criticize you for drawing a connection between rebuff and buff, a verb meaning \u201cto polish or shine.\u201d But rebuff would beg to differ: this word comes to us from the Middle French verb rebuffer, which traces back to the Old Italian ribuffare, meaning \u201cto reprimand.\u201d (Buff, in contrast, comes from the Middle French noun buffle, meaning \u201cwild ox\u201d). A similar word, rebuke, shares the \u201ccriticize\u201d sense of rebuff, but not the \u201creject\u201d sense; one can rebuke another\u2019s actions or policies, but one does not rebuke the advances of another, for example. Like rebuke, rebuff can also be used as a noun, as in \u201cThe proposal was met with a stern rebuff from the Board of Trustees.\u201d
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