rebuff

English

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈbʌf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌf

Noun

rebuff (plural rebuffs)

1. A sudden resistance or refusal.
   • 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.

   He was surprised by her quick rebuff to his proposal.

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

Translations

refusal

• Bulgarian: неочакван отказ m (neočakvan otkaz)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 回绝 (zh) (huíjué)

• Finnish: torjunta (fi)
• French: rebuffade (fr) f
• German: Abfuhr (de) f, Zurückweisung (de) f
• Italian: rifiuto (it) m, ricusa (it) f, ricusazione (it) f, ripulsa (it) f, rigetto (it) m
• Latin: repulsa f
• Maori: whakapeka, whakahoe
• Russian: отпо́р (ru) m (otpór), отка́з (ru) m (otkáz)
• Scottish Gaelic: diùltadh m
• Spanish: rechazo (es) m
• Swedish: avvisande (sv)
• Turkish: ret (tr), tersleme (tr)

Verb

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

1. 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.

Translations

refuse

• Bulgarian: отказвам (bg) (otkazvam), отхвърлям (bg) (othvǎrljam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: torjua (fi)
• French: rejeter (fr), refuser (fr)
• German: Abfuhr erteilen, zurückweisen (de)
• Hungarian: elutasít (hu), visszautasít (hu)
• Italian: ricusare (it), respingere (it), rifiutare (it), ripudiare (it), reclinare (it)
• Maori: hoe, whakapeka, whakahoe
• Russian: отка́зывать (ru) impf (otkázyvatʹ), отказа́ть (ru) pf (otkazátʹ), отверга́ть (ru) impf (otvergátʹ), отве́ргнуть (ru) pf (otvérgnutʹ) (reject), дава́ть отпо́р impf (davátʹ otpór), дать отпо́р pf (datʹ otpór)
• Scottish Gaelic: diùlt
• Spanish: rechazar (es), recusar (es)
• Turkish: reddetmek (tr), terslemek (tr)
• Vietnamese: cự tuyệt (vi)

Etymology 2

re- +‎ buff

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹiːˈbʌf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To buff again.

Anagrams

• buffer