How to use spurn in a sentence

15 example sentences · verb, noun

Spurn means to reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn. Example: “Although the term “rewilding” – meaning an approach to conservation that allows nature a free rein – has been in currency since 1990, many traditional landowners and gamekeepers continue to spurn both the term and the idea behind it.”

Examples of spurn by meaning

verbTo reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn.

Although the term “rewilding” – meaning an approach to conservation that allows nature a free rein – has been in currency since 1990, many traditional landowners and gamekeepers continue to spurn both the term and the idea behind it.2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian

verbTo waste; fail to make the most of (an opportunity).

Marouane Chamakh then spurned a great chance to kill the game off when he ran onto Andrey Arshavin's lofted through ball but shanked his shot horribly across the face of goal.2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport

More sentences with spurn

Milton suggests his republicanism by spurning the anticivic implications of Epicurean garden retirement.2002, Joshua Scodel, Excess and the Mean in Early Modern English Literature. From the entry anticivic
He spurns “neuters and geldings” in favor of “men and women fully equipt.” This is not biography but psychography.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae. From the entry psychography
Many men boastfully spurn the useful but humble rubbers.1923 March 25, Bally Fairfield Burton, “The Folly Test of Fashion”, in The New York Times (Magazine section), volume LXXII, number 23,801…. From the entry namby-pambiness
Deponent further says that he spurned the offer and turned and left the room, when he was accosted by Mr.1912 June 27, T. J. Culpepper, quotee, Congressional Record: Containing the Proceedings and Debates of the Sixty-Second Congress, Second…. From the entry damnder
Gaston Leroux is an early writer who spurns the Conan Doylean tradition and invents a detective with a doubting Thomas attitude toward material clues.1990, Gillian Gill, Agatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries, The Free Press, →ISBN, page 39. From the entry Conan Doylean
I wondered if I had done a wise thing, staying with those few Outer Bankers who spurned the National Weather Service's advice to evacuate.1987 October, Charles E. Cobb, Jr., “North Carolina's Outer Banks”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 490. From the entry Outer Banker
When he spurns her, Julia is outraged to hear it is because she did not measure up to his secret list of 10 bullet-pointed attributes for an ideal bride.2022 August 24, Peter Bradshaw, “Mr Malcolm’s List review – Regency romcom served with cake-icing of irony”, in The Guardian. From the entry ensnare
Proponents of the Date Me doc spurn Bumble, Hinge, and Tinder and lay themselves bare in Dropbox Paper, Google Docs, or personal websites built on WordPress and SquareSpace.2022 September 2, Lauren Goode, “’Date Me’ Google Docs and the Hyper-Optimized Quest for Love”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé…. From the entry date-me doc
Jordan Henderson had a shot saved and other chances were spurned as England fashioned some magnificent approach play only to fail to apply the final flourish.2018 June 18, Phil McNulty, “Tunisia 1 – 2 England”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2019. From the entry approach play
Read to eat his breakfast, he found to his surprise that his breakfast mate was the young woman who had spurned his once-over glance the day before.1995, James C[alhoun] Humes, The Wit & Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin: A Treasury of More Than 900 Quotations and Anecdotes, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry breakfast mate
Boy, youth and man, you'll ever find the world is villianously inclined so strive, as all giraffedom should, to spurn the bad and grasp the good.1982, Koolewong, volumes 11-13, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, page 13. From the entry giraffedom
"Often on the highway, weary and wary, we spurn the unknown and cheerfully drive on for the promise of a Howard Johnson's and its familiar dèja vu.1970 August 12, Gael Greene, Time Magazine, page 12. From the entry HoJo's
Will the sinner knowingly spurn exomologesis, which has been instituted by God for his restoration? that exomologesis which restored the king of Babylon to his royal throne?1959, Tertullian, “...”, in William P. Le Saint, editor, Treatises on Penance: On Penitence and On Purity, Issue 28, →ISBN, page 36. From the entry exomologesis

Meaning of spurn

verb To reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn.
verb To reject something by pushing it away with the foot.
verb To waste; fail to make the most of (an opportunity).

Full definition of spurn

Questions about spurn in a sentence

How do you use spurn in a sentence?: Spurn is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Although the term “rewilding” – meaning an approach to conservation that allows nature a free rein – has been in currency since 1990, many traditional landowners and gamekeepers continue to spurn both the term and the idea behind it.”
What is a short sentence with spurn?: “Many men boastfully spurn the useful but humble rubbers.”
What does spurn mean?: Spurn means to reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn.

Adapted from Wiktionary: spurn (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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