How to Use disown in a Sentence

disown

verb
Definition of disownnext
Synonyms for disownnext
  • He was disowned for bringing shame to the family.
  • Her parents threatened to disown her if she didn't go back to school.
  • By the time the movie came out that May, Fincher had all but disowned it.
    — Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2023
  • That’s not to say the White House disowned the deal once it was finally reached.
    — W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner, 1 June 2023
  • The problem is, my husband and son have all but disowned me.
    — Dear Abby, oregonlive.com, 16 Aug. 2019
  • And so Lay became, in 1738, the last of a very few Quakers disowned for protests against slavery.
    — Marcus Rediker, Smithsonian, 15 Aug. 2017
  • And so Lay became, in 1738, the last of a very few Quakers disowned for protests against slavery.
    — Marcus Rediker, Smithsonian, 30 Sep. 2017
  • Rather than disown them, Trump counts these two among his closest aides.
    — Deroy Murdock, National Review, 15 Sep. 2017
  • While some of my fellow Chicagoans might disown me for saying this, any white roll will do.
    — Aaron Hutcherson, Washington Post, 25 June 2024
  • Agents told her brother Ali to denounce and disown her.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 1 Nov. 2021
  • The De Leons were disowned of four separate tracts that had been in their family since the 1790s, when Spain ruled the region.
    — T. Christian Miller, Propublica, Kiah Collier and Julian Aguilar, star-telegram, 14 Dec. 2017
  • He's been disowned by both the national and Illinois GOP.
    — Eugene Scott, Washington Post, 13 June 2018
  • Bannon, for his part, often seems to want to disown his alma mater, too.
    — Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 19 Apr. 2017
  • The older ones are now disowning us because of how far these pics are going.
    — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2019
  • The members of my mother’s family have disowned me for it.
    — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
  • And if someone does decide to leave, they are disowned and their families are told never to speak to them.
    — Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 6 Jan. 2024
  • The plot is centered around the foul-mouthed Georgie, who has been disowned by her wealthy mother while her classy twin sister remains in her good graces.
    — Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, 1 Nov. 2019
  • Elon Musk, who once fought in court for the right to call himself cofounder of Tesla, just disowned one of his most famous creations.
    — Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 17 Feb. 2023
  • In the past few months alone, Army officials debated whether the study should be embraced or disowned.
    — Michael R. Gordon, WSJ, 22 Oct. 2018
  • No child should have to fear being disowned by their caretakers.
    — NBC News, 20 June 2019
  • Their homes have been destroyed, or they have been disowned by family.
    — Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
  • Such sharp practices have led his daughter to all but disown him, and that has spurred him to look elsewhere for family.
    — Sam Sacks, WSJ, 7 July 2017
  • That is in contrast to Malaysia, which has picked the film as its Oscar contender but where censors have cut so much out of it that Eu has disowned the local print.
    — Janine Stein, Variety, 30 Nov. 2023
  • The third -- who stuck by her story -- testified her parents had disowned her.
    — Aimee Green, OregonLive.com, 19 Feb. 2018
  • Because all the tweets are gone, which, in this modern age, is a dramatic—if subtle—act of disowning.
    — Richard Lawson, Vanities, 6 Feb. 2017
  • The 35-year-old women’s rights activist quickly disowned the images, calling it a smear campaign.
    — Ignatius Ssuuna, The Seattle Times, 10 June 2017
  • For a number of reasons, lead rapper and writer Chuck D. has refused to stand by his colleague, and refused to disown him.
    — John Leland, SPIN, 25 Feb. 2023
  • Gareth Bale, a man who was seemingly disowned by his manager, was selected to start the game.
    — SI.com, 17 Aug. 2019
  • My mom, a die-hard Spanish citizen and fan, has probably just disowned me.
    — Alex Ward, Vox, 12 June 2018
  • When al Qaeda’s leaders expelled the group in 2014 for its disobedience, Adnani retorted that al Qaeda could not disown what had never belonged to it in the first place.
    — William McCants, Foreign Affairs, 10 Sep. 2014

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disown.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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