Definitions Related words Phrases Mentions Lyrics History Colors (New!)

Literary notes about Rejection (AI summary)

In literature, the word "rejection" assumes a strikingly multifaceted role, functioning as both a literal dismissal and a potent symbol of emotional, ideological, or social estrangement. It can convey contempt or rebuke, as when an idea is scornfully dismissed in phrases like "niño muerto" [1] or when political and military demands are met with defiant hostility [2]. In the realm of personal narrative, rejection is employed to underscore deep emotional wounds and the cruelty of interpersonal ruptures [3],[4], while also serving as a catalyst for character transformation or as a measure of moral and intellectual rigor in philosophical discourses [5],[6]. Even in scientific treatises, the concept is likened to the selective process, where the rejection of injurious variations is as crucial as the retention of beneficial ones [7]. This breadth of application shows how rejection not only delineates boundaries between differing ideals and relationships but also drives the narrative tension and thematic complexity across genres [8],[9].
  1. the expression niño muerto is often thus used in contemptuous rejection of an idea.
    — from Novelas Cortas by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón
  2. Thus Appius Claudius Cento would be hostile from the rejection of his illegal demand for 5000 men.
    — from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius
  3. The humiliation of his rejection stung him to the heart, as though it were a fresh wound he had only just received.
    — from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy
  4. Quietly as I had borne her relation, the moment I was alone I felt most bitterly both the disgrace and sorrow of a rejection so cruelly inexplicable.
    — from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney
  5. But the rejection of the subject renders some more complicated theory necessary.
    — from The Analysis of Mind by Bertrand Russell
  6. A rejection of hedonistic psychology, therefore, by no means involves any opposition to eudæmonism in ethics.
    — from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
  7. This preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection.
    — from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
  8. In its rejection of the current notions about morality, it is one with the higher ethics.
    — from Intentions by Oscar Wilde
  9. Moreover, the recollection of the rejection and the part he had played in the affair tortured him with shame.
    — from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy

More usage examples

Also see: Google, News, Images, Wikipedia, Reddit, BlueSky


Home   Reverse Dictionary / Thesaurus   Datamuse   Word games   Spruce   Feedback   Dark mode   Random word   Help


Color thesaurus

Use OneLook to find colors for words and words for colors

See an example

Literary notes

Use OneLook to learn how words are used by great writers

See an example

Word games

Try our innovative vocabulary games

Play Now

Read the latest OneLook newsletter issue: Threepeat Redux