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PlainSpell

refuse

/ˈɹɛfjuːs/adjective, noun, verb

refuse is spelled R-E-F-U-S-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,683rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, refuse means “Discarded, rejected” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in refuse?

Letters6: R-E-F-U-S-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing25 times per million words; the 3,683rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is refuse?

Refuse appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,683rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce refuse?

  • /ˈɹɛfjuːs/

As a verb (“To decline (a request or demand)”): /ɹɪˈfjuːz/, /ɹɪˈfjuz/, /ɹɪˈfjʉːz/.

As a verb (“To fuse again, as with, or after, heating or melting”): /ɹiːˈfjuːz/.

Refuse has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-refuse_(noun).wav, En-uk-to_refuse.ogg, En-us-refuse.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with refuse

Also written: re-fuse (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with refuse?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as refuse from its last stressed vowel (/uz/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of refuse

  • more refuse comparative
  • most refuse superlative
  • refuses present, singular, he/she/it
  • refusing participle, present
  • refused participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does refuse mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Discarded, rejected.

noun

  1. 1

    Collectively, items or material that have been discarded; rubbish, garbage.

  2. 2

    obsoleterefusal

verb

  1. 1

    To decline (a request or demand).

    My request for a pay rise was refused.

  2. 2

    To decline a request or demand, forbear; to withhold permission.

    I refuse to listen to this nonsense any more.

  3. 3

    To withhold (something) from (someone); to not give it to them or to bar them from having it.

  4. 4

    To throw back, or cause to keep back (as the centre, a wing, or a flank), out of the regular alignment when troops are about to engage the enemy.

    to refuse the right wing while the left wing attacks

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo disown.

  6. 6

    To fuse again, as with, or after, heating or melting.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Refuse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchordures, déchets, détritus (items or material that have been discarded), refuser ((transitive) decline (request, demand))
GermanAbfall, Müll (items or material that have been discarded), sich weigern, verweigern, ablehnen, abschlagen ((transitive) decline (request, demand))
Portugueselixo, descartado (items or material that have been discarded), recusar ((transitive) decline (request, demand))
Spanishbasura, desechos, rehús, rejús, rebús (items or material that have been discarded), rehusar ((transitive) decline (request, demand))

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does refuse come from?

Borrowed into late Middle English from Middle French refusé, past participle of refuser (“to refuse”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after refuse