rebuff

From Middle French rebuffer (compare French rebiffer).

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈbʌf/
• Rhymes: -ʌf

rebuff (plural rebuffs)

1. A sudden resistance or refusal.
   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.

   He was surprised by her quick rebuff to his proposal.

2. Repercussion, or beating back.
   • Milton

     the strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud

rebuff (third-person singular simple present rebuffs, present participle rebuffing, simple past and past participle rebuffed)

1. To refuse; to offer sudden or harsh resistance; to turn down or shut out.

re- +‎ buff

rebuff (third-person singular simple present rebuffs, present participle rebuffing, simple past and past participle rebuffed)

1. (transitive) To buff again.

• buffer