Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To declare false; deny. See Synonyms at deny.
- v. To oppose, especially by contradiction.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To speak against; contradict; oppose in words; deny or declare not to be true; controvert; dispute: applied to persons, or to propositions, declarations, or facts.
- n. A gainsaying; opposition in words; contradiction.
Wiktionary
- v. To contradict; to deny, refute; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To contradict; to deny; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.
WordNet 3.0
- v. take exception to
Etymologies
- From Middle English gainsayen, ȝeinseggen ("to say against, say in opposition to"), equivalent to gain- + say. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English gainsayen : gain-, against (from Old English gegn-) + sayen, to say (from Old English secgan; see say). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Indeed, I have offended and done evil; but I crave pardon of Allah Almighty for whatso I did, and if He reunite us, I will never again gainsay thee in aught, no, never! —”
“a proof of my assertion, which I do not think any of them will gainsay, which is, that they all laid down as a principle what they did not perfectly know.”
“In theory, at least, inferior material, but who can gainsay the wine's elegance?”
“One hesitates to gainsay those who are putting their money where we journalists are only willing to put our mouths.”
“Say what you will about that view, it's hard to gainsay the economic gains that Singapore, Malaysia and China all made over the last 30-odd years.”
“Admitting the Mubarak regime's contributions to America's interests in the region doesn't gainsay the reality that keeping aging autocracies in power, with no feasible successor in sight, is a status quo that isn't sustainable.”
“None of this is to gainsay the interests of the world economy in the region.”
“Negotiating these complexities, however, would be a monumental challenge for a 27-year-old CEO who seems most intent on making sure no one can gainsay him.”
“Far be it for us to gainsay the glories of the Italian kitchen.”
“None of this is to gainsay the genuine hardships that many of the uninsured face, but we prefer the approach Mr. Obama ran on in the 2008 primaries against Hillary Clinton.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gainsay’.
-
GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
-
Anglish
Words that can replace Latinates.
frosent, gainsay, fremd, inrush, frain, huru, wordbook, wordstock, byspel, elfshine, infaru, glam and 98 more...
-
501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
-
GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
-
EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
-
New words
new words or spelling issues
voluble, Metagrobolize, salubrious, calumny, fugacity, withdrawal, bourse, hypertrophy, leitmotif, argot, improvident, damask and 234 more...
-
501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
-
SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
-
501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
-
501
Classic
bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august and 401 more...
-
Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
-
New Words
Words I want to add to my working vocabulary.
picayune, elision, intimated, modicum, non sequitur, insouciant, vituperate, asperity, perfidious, gainsay, fulmination, inimical and 11 more...
-
March 2012
panache, evanescent, erogenous, vestibule, malfeasance, lacuna, blithering, incubate, breech, tabernacle, pearly, upholstery and 79 more...
-
gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
-
Citicize/Criticism
belittle, berate, calumny, castigate, decry, defamation, disparage, excoriate, gainsay, harangue, impugn, inveigh and 9 more...
-
SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gainsay.
AnWulf Benote gainsay? Eath!
Luke 21:15 KJV
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist .
Other gain- words:
gainclap (also gainclapp) - counterstroke, counterblow, riposte
gaincope - head off, cut off
gainstand - to stand against
gainstrive - to strive against
Nov 29, 2011