rebuff

From obsolete French rebuffer, from Middle French rebuffer (compare French rebiffer (“to rise up, revolt”)), from Italian ribuffare.

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈbʌf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌf

rebuff (plural rebuffs)

1. A sudden resistance or refusal.

   He was surprised by her quick rebuff to his proposal.

   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.

   • 2021 April 13, Stephen Collinson, “Michigan vaccine rebuff puts Biden and a top ally in a dicey political spot”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     His administration’s blunt rebuff of a plea by his ally and Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for an increased supply of vaccines to combat a Covid-19 spike represents the kind of tough decision the President and his team will increasingly face on the exit road from the crisis.

   • 2024 August 15, Reuters, “US, Brazil float new Venezuela election despite government, opposition rebuffs”, in Fox News‎^[2]:

     U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he would support a new election in Venezuela, after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also floated the idea, despite rebuffs from Venezuela's ruling party and its opposition which both claim victory in the July 28 contest.

2. Repercussion, or beating back.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     the strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud

rebuff (third-person singular simple present rebuffs, present participle rebuffing, simple past and past participle rebuffed)

1. (transitive) To refuse; to offer sudden or harsh resistance; to turn down or shut out.
   • 2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The writings on the wall...”, in RAIL, number 940, page 71:

     The plaque (2014) doesn't tell you that Leonard [Woolf] had initially been rebuffed. His intended proposal was refused by Virginia [Woolf to be], who then had a change of heart.

   • 2024 October 23, Brian Stelter, “CBS News rebuffs Trump’s legal threat over ‘60 Minutes’ interview”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     Lawyers for CBS News are rebuffing a legal threat from Donald Trump over the network’s “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, telling the former president his demands are based on a “faulty premise.”

   • 2025 February 14, Marshall Cohen, “The almighty Musk: How the world’s richest man became Washington’s most powerful bureaucrat”, in CNN‎^[4]:

     “If you have rule of the bureaucrat — if the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?” Musk said during his 30-minute appearance with Trump, where he rebuffed critics who said he’s the one undermining democratic institutions.

• rebuffal

From re- +‎ buff.

• IPA^(key): /ɹiːˈbʌf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

rebuff (third-person singular simple present rebuffs, present participle rebuffing, simple past and past participle rebuffed)

1. (transitive) To buff again.

• buffer