negate
/nɪˈɡeɪt
/verb [with object]
1Make ineffective; nullify: alcohol negates the effects of the drug...
- The problem is that alcohol negates the effects of the medication, and greatly exacerbates my condition.
- Psychiatrists point out that alcohol itself is a depressant and may negate the effects of anti-depressant medication.
- They have to continue with unpredictable flight times and routes and counter measures in the air to negate the effect of these missiles.
Synonyms
invalidate, nullify, render null and void, render invalid, make ineffective, neutralize, cancel (out);
undo, reverse, annul, void, revoke, rescind, abrogate, repeal, retract, countermand, overrule, overturn;
Law avoid
2 Logic & Grammar Make (a clause, sentence, or proposition) negative in meaning.What we did there was just negate the A. We wanted to negate the whole sentence....
- In some English dialects, after all, a double negative reinforces a negative, it doesn't negate it.
- I've suggested that Rice's utterance is unlikely to be function-free, and also that it's unlikely to have been used to question, negate, or contradict.
3Deny the existence of: negating the political nature of education...
- It is difficult to see why dialogue negates or denies the existence of authority.
- Using video, we were able to disrupt stable, everyday causalities, and to circumvent the logic that negates the existence of fanciful signs or places of superstition in our environment.
- Disaster and evil seem to me no more to negate the existence of God than they negate the existence of love and courage.
Synonyms
deny, dispute, call into question, contradict, refute, rebut, discredit, disclaim, reject, repudiate
formal gainsay
rare controvert
Origin
Early 17th century (in sense 1, sense 3): from Latin negat- 'denied', from the verb negare.