To deny means to say that something is not true, or to refuse to give someone something they want or need. When you deny an accusation, you're stating firmly that it didn't happen. If someone accuses you of breaking a window and you deny it, you're saying, “No, I didn't do that.”

People deny things for different reasons. Sometimes they're telling the truth: you might deny eating the last cookie because you genuinely didn't eat it. Other times, people deny wrongdoing even when they're guilty, hoping to avoid consequences. A student might deny copying homework even with clear evidence against them.

The word also means refusing to allow or give something. A teacher might deny a request to leave class early without a good reason. A country might deny entry to travelers without proper documents. Parents might deny permission for a sleepover on a school night.

There's also self-denial, which means deliberately going without something you want, often for a larger goal. An athlete might practice self-denial by skipping desserts while training for a competition.

The word carries weight because denial often involves something important: truth, access, or acknowledgment. When someone is in denial, they refuse to accept an obvious or painful truth, like denying that they're unprepared for a test even though they haven't studied.