ablehnen
German, verb
ablehnen is spelled A-B-L-E-H-N-E-N (8 letters) and appears 8.7 times per million words in written German, the 7,885th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ablehnen is a German verb meaning “to decline, refuse, reject, turn down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Ablehnen is a different word: “gerund of ablehnen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “zu etwas nein sagen; etwas zurückweisen oder missbilligen”.
What does ablehnen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to decline, refuse, reject, turn down
Das Angebot wurde abgelehnt.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of ablehnen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. zu etwas nein sagen; etwas zurückweisen oder missbilligen
noun: 1. Nicht-Annahme, Zurückweisung, Missbilligung von etwas
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of ablehnen
- lehnt ab present singular third-person
- lehnte ab past
- abgelehnt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- ablehnend participle present
- abzulehnen infinitive infinitive-zu
- lehne ab first-person indicative present
- lehnen ab first-person indicative plural
- lehnst ab indicative present second-person
- lehnest ab second-person singular subjunctive
- lehnet ab plural second-person subjunctive
- lehnten ab first-person indicative plural
- lehntest ab indicative preterite second-person
- lehntet ab indicative plural preterite
- lehne ab! imperative singular
- lehnt ab! imperative plural
- abgelehnt haben active infinitive perfect
- abgelehnt werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to ablehnen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is ablehnen in German?
ablehnen appears 8.7 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).