Word.ws English Dictionary

gainsaying

gainsaying noun: opposition, especially in speech. Also the present participle and gerund of gainsay.

Noun

gainsaying (plural gainsayings)

  1. Opposition, especially in speech.
    • This gainsaying may take numberless forms: [...]1903, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Baptist missionary magazine: Volume 83
    • Wee'le part the time betweene's then: and in that Ile no gaine-saying. […]c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  2. Refusal to accept or believe something.
    • So that it is best to take this meaning here, and understand, that an oath puts an end to all gainsaying by confirming the matter one way, in which all parties consent [...]1859, Henry Alford, The Greek Testament
  3. Contradiction.
    • There is no gainsaying this logic.1969, Robert Lisle Lindsey, A Hebrew translation of the Gospel of Mark
  4. Denial; denying.
    • But there was no gainsaying the wisdom of the advice which he had given me as to concealing the treasure.1887, The Rose of Paradise
  5. (archaic, obsolete) Rebellious opposition; rebellion.
    • Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jude 11

Also used as

gainsaying is also the present participle and gerund of gainsay.

Forms of gainsaying

pluralgainsayings

Origin of gainsaying

From Middle English gaynesayenge, ȝeinseiing, ȝeinsegging, equivalent to gainsay + -ing.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Questions about gainsaying

What does gainsaying mean?
Gainsaying means opposition, especially in speech.
What part of speech is gainsaying?
Gainsaying is a noun.
What is the plural of gainsaying?
The plural of gainsaying is gainsayings.

Words near gainsaying in the dictionary

  1. gainsayed
  2. gainsayer
  3. gainsayers
  4. gainsayest
  5. gainsayeth
  6. gainsaying
  7. gainsayings
  8. gainsays
  9. gainsboro
  10. Gainsborough
  11. Gainsborough chair

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gainsaying (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “gainsaying.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gainsaying. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.