disown
Sever family ties
To disown someone is to reject any connection with them, especially to renounce a family member: His parents disowned him when he came out.
The word suggests a formal, often permanent severing of ties.
You can also disown actions, statements, or beliefs—refusing to acknowledge them as yours: She disowned her earlier comments.
Reject as having no authority
- disavowDeny any association
- abjureSolemnly reject or recant
- forswearReject under oath
- recantFormally withdraw a statement
disclaim · retract · renounce · deny · abnegate · disaffirm · refute · negate
Cause emotional distance
- ostracizeExclude from a group
- shunDeliberately keep away
- banishOfficially send away
- excludeBar from participation
exile · excommunicate · isolate · sever · detach · disaffiliate · disassociate · disengage
Revoke bequest rights
- heirOne who receives legacy
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- bequestGift left by will
- estateProperty and grounds
will · beneficiary · legacy · testament · probate · succession · patrimony · entailment
repudiate
Reject as having no authority
recant · disclaim · retract · renounce · deny · abnegate · disaffirm · refute · negate · disacknowledge
alienate
Cause emotional distance
exclude · exile · excommunicate · isolate · sever · detach · disaffiliate · disassociate · disengage · estrangement
disinherit
Revoke bequest rights
- heirOne who receives legacy
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- bequestGift left by will
estate · will · beneficiary · legacy · testament · probate · succession · patrimony · entailment · intestate
spurn
Refuse with contempt
forsake · abandon · desert · jilt · discard · relinquish · shed · divest · refuse · rebuke
- DIS- wordsdisagree, disallow, disbelieve, disapprove, disarray
- disapprovaldisapproval, scowl, disapprove, disapproves, frown
- giving upgive up, giving up, quit, quitting, surrender
- reversalsreverse, undo, revert, overturn, flip
- defectiondefection, defect, defector, turncoat, desertion