Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use refuse in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Refuse means discarded, rejected. Example: “My request for a pay rise was refused.”

Examples of refuse by meaning

verbTo decline (a request or demand).

  • My request for a pay rise was refused.

verbTo decline a request or demand, forbear; to withhold permission.

  • I refuse to listen to this nonsense any more.
  • I asked the star if I could have her autograph, but she refused.
  • Russia refused to let the Commission hold an election in north Korea, or even to enter north Korea.1948 March 1, “Duel in Korea”, in World Week, volume 12, number 5, Scholastic Corporation, page 10, column 2

verbTo throw back, or cause to keep back (as the centre, a wing, or a flank), out of the regular alignment when troops are...

  • to refuse the right wing while the left wing attacks

More sentences with refuse

  • He died a little inside each time she refused to speak to him.From the entry die
  • The proposed gas tax died after the powerful rural senator refused to let it out of committee.From the entry die
  • He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him.From the entry for
  • The general refused to order his soldiers to retreat, despite being vastly outnumbered.From the entry retreat
  • The accused refused to reveal the source of the illegal drugs she was selling.From the entry source
  • He refused to take a single as the ball was dropped by his opponent's best fielder.From the entry single
  • Refusing to apologise, I stormed out the room. I'm regretting doing such a stupid thing already.From the entry -ing
  • Really? Unfortunately, my mind refuses to bring any such memory forward.From the entry such
  • If they refuse to surrender the garrison, we'll just starve them out.From the entry starve
  • I refuse to send them any more money until they fix this mix up.From the entry mix up
  • The company's directors were chagrined to learn that banks were suddenly refusing to discount its notes.From the entry discount
  • If the horse refuses an obstacle, the rider will receive four faults.From the entry fault
  • The two players refused to shake hands — there's a bit of previous there.From the entry previous
  • He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.From the entry crank
  • Jane tendered her resignation to the board of directors, but they refused.From the entry resignation
  • The surgeon refused to operate because the patient was her son.From the entry surgeon
  • Ever since he choked on a bone, he has refused to eat fish.From the entry choke
  • She refused to grovel in front of the bully, standing her ground.From the entry grovel
  • Jade refused to go swimming with her brother until he helped her find her favorite swimsuit.From the entry swimsuit
  • He refused to buy recaps because he didn't trust them not to come apart on the highway.From the entry recap
  • He stubbornly refused to quit trying, even after failing 20 times.From the entry stubbornly
  • The Minister for Finance refused to budge on the new economic rules.From the entry budge
  • The Society of Religious Snobs refused to fellowship the poor family.From the entry fellowship
  • He refuses to wear the new sweater; he says it’s itchy.From the entry itchy
  • A headhunter called me out of the blue with an offer I couldn't refuse.From the entry headhunter
  • The court found plaintiff's service of process effective, although the defendant refused to receive the complaint.From the entry service of process
  • We backfilled the cistern with pea gravel to discourage its use as a refuse container.From the entry backfill
  • He was blacklisted for refusing to say he wasn't a communist.From the entry blacklisted
  • At first she refused to buy the kids sweets, but eventually they wore her down.From the entry wear down
  • The merchant refused to travel in the region due to the ongoing banditry.From the entry banditry
  • She loves to sing karaoke, but there are a few songs that she refuses to cover.From the entry a few
  • He’s refusing to testify. I think the Mob got to him.From the entry get to
  • I refused to go with them, but in the end I was persuaded.From the entry in the end
  • With great reluctance, he was introduced to pomegranates, whenceforth he refused any other fruit.From the entry whenceforth
  • When the bank refused the credit, all our plans went up in smoke.From the entry go up in smoke

Meaning of refuse

  1. adjective Discarded, rejected.
  2. noun Collectively, items or material that have been discarded; rubbish, garbage.
  3. verb To decline (a request or demand).

Full definition of refuse

Questions about refuse in a sentence

How do you use refuse in a sentence?
Refuse is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “My request for a pay rise was refused.”
What is a short sentence with refuse?
“My request for a pay rise was refused.”
What does refuse mean?
Refuse means discarded, rejected.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: refuse (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use refuse in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/refuse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.