Word of the Day

Monday December 21, 2009

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gainsay [gayn-SAY; GAYN-say]

transitive verb

1. To deny; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.
2. To contradict; to oppose.

• Okay, potshots are easy because instant art collections gainsay the spirit of a true collector who studies, learns and buys over many years. But the Obamas are in a unique position that calls for first-class surroundings and provides the wherewithal to get them.
  Lennie Bennett, "THE EYE OF THE ESTEEMED BEHOLDER; Gauging the artistic eye of Michelle Obama as she dresses the walls of the nation's most-renowned house", St. Petersburg Times, Oct 11, 2009
• Few would gainsay families eating together. The image of family members at day's end being nourished and nourishing one another, a refuge against whatever the outside world has loosed upon them, tugs at the heart. In the ideal, it's the safety zone, where tweens and teenagers, those elusive creatures, will reveal secrets.
  Jan Hoffman, "The Guilt-Trip Casserole", New York Times, Oct 4, 2009
• "It is wisdom; none can gainsay it. Let us go on, Sir Boss. I will take note and learn, and do the best I may."
  Mark Twain (1835-1910) An American author and humorist. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Part 6 (1899)

Origin of the Word

Gainsay, approximately 1300, derives from Old English gegn- "against" + say."