Denied

How to spell denied

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce denied

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does denied mean?

1. verbRefused to admit the truth of something, or refused to grant or allow something.

Denied in a sentence

• The bank denied his loan application without giving a clear reason.

• She flatly denied any involvement in the missing funds.

Where does denied come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense of 'deny', which English took in the 1300s from the Old French verb 'denier'. That French word came directly from the Latin 'denegare', a strengthened form built from the prefix 'de-' (meaning 'completely' or 'away') and the verb 'negare' (meaning 'to say no' or 'to refuse'). The Latin 'negare' itself rests on the little negative particle 'neg', the same root that gives us 'negative' and 'renege', so the idea of flat refusal has been baked into the word from the very start. When 'deny' takes its past tense the final 'y' turns into 'i' before the '-ed', producing 'denied', and that spelling swap is the small trap worth remembering. The word has carried two closely linked senses since it entered English: refusing to admit that something is true, and refusing to grant something that is asked for.

How the word is built

• de- (away, completely)
• neg/ni (from Latin negare: to say no)
• -ied (past tense, y changed to i)