What's the difference between avow and disavow?

Avow


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To declare openly, as something believed to be right; to own or acknowledge frankly; as, a man avows his principles or his crimes.
  • (v. t.) To acknowledge and justify, as an act done. See Avowry.
  • (n.) Avowal.
  • (n.) To bind, or to devote, by a vow.
  • (n.) A vow or determination.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) How can she be so self-avowedly hip (Revolver, reefer) and yet so naive (swinging)?
  • (2) Discontent with the monarchy is no longer confined to avowedly republican parties or rightwingers, who have never forgiven the king for introducing democracy and transforming the state handed to him by dictator General Francisco Franco on his death in 1975, when Spain's historically fragile monarchy was restored for the second time in a century.
  • (3) The avowedly antisemitic National Socialists of the NRM are the extreme wing of this spectrum, Poohl says.
  • (4) For an avowed elitist, he had a remarkable ability to talk to a crowd.
  • (5) That, and the strong possibility that Obama was not referring to just those 1.5 million, but to some larger percentage of the 51% of Americans who disapprove of the job he's doing – a group that, statistically speaking, can't just consist of avowed racists.
  • (6) Snyder mentions Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán , who avowedly seeks the creation of an “illiberal” state, and who, says Snyder, “looks fondly on that period as one of healthy national consciousness”.
  • (7) But the rise of Ukip looks to me to be legitimising a very different view, in which the average English person will be characterised as an avowed Eurosceptic, a fierce opponent of immigration, a hang-'em-and-flog-'em merchant, and a hater of government.
  • (8) In September the telegenic Tsipras, an avowed atheist, made a trip to Rome to hold talks with Pope Francis.
  • (9) They are avowedly non-violent in their approach, but do not shy away from supporting specific “mujahedeen” groups in current conflicts, though this support has rarely been found to go beyond the rhetorical and is confined to wars within the Muslim world.
  • (10) In November 1962, six years after she left the Communist party, an MI5 officer wrote, in a file stamped “secret and personal”: “She is known to have retained extreme leftwing views and she takes an interest in African affairs as an avowed opponent of racial discrimination.
  • (11) In another video Shekau made an avowal that "we will continue to carry out such school attacks till our last breath".
  • (12) For his father, an avowed “leftist liberal”, Romanos is typical of a younger generation who, although middle-class and privileged, have been radicalised by growing up in a nation whose political establishment is blamed for the devastation wrought by its brush with bankruptcy.
  • (13) What DfE ministers and civil servants will make of this ideological clash is anyone’s guess but, since the avowed aim of the free school programme is to let a thousand flowers bloom, it would be surprising if Livingstone’s Hammersmith proposal failed.
  • (14) But they also mentioned the possibility of him cracking down on immigration, despite the mayor of London being avowedly pro-immigration .
  • (15) The Russian targets so far include a small number of avowedly secular fighters who have received limited backing from the United States and the Gulf states.
  • (16) I have remained a party member and avowedly a Trotskyist.
  • (17) Like Mandela, he was a black revolutionary, a prisoner turned president who avowed racial reconciliation and became a darling of the west.
  • (18) Factor analyses of the children's responses yielded three interpretable factors: a tendency to despise the victims of bullies; general admiration for school bullies; and avowed support for intervention to assist the victim.
  • (19) Sexual function after prostatectomy, particularly perirenal, has been reviewed in 128 patients treated in private practice for the past twenty years by one urologist with an avowed bias to encouraging postoperative sexual function.
  • (20) That may not be all that surprising given the march of Europhobia through the Tory party, but it is nevertheless striking that so many Conservatives preferred an avowed enemy of their party who describes the prime minister as a conman over their current coalition partner.

Disavow


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To refuse strongly and solemnly to own or acknowledge; to deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like; to disclaim; to disown; as, he was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the crime.
  • (v. t.) To deny; to show the contrary of; to disprove.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The former Massachusetts governor, like many Republicans, expected the Trump campaign to implode last summer, after he insulted Mexicans and said Arizona senator and 2008 Republican nominee John McCain was not a “war hero” because “I like people who weren’t captured.” This year, days after Trump did not immediately disavow an expression of support from David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, Romney said one of his sons was driving him to an airport when he asked: “When the grandkids ask ‘What did you do to stop Donald Trump ?’ what are you going to say?’” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Romney launches extensive attack on Trump: ‘A genius he is not’ That, Romney said, was the final push.
  • (2) In fact, not only have the teams that failed to qualify not been invited to play, for if they were that would contradict the elitist terms of the qualification that are disavowed so cunningly here by Pitbull, but also in reality, only Fifa functionaries, Brazilian bureaucrats and half the BBC will get into Brazil's stadiums gratis this summer.
  • (3) He has since disavowed that approach and, for nearly two years, has advocated for a piecemeal approach to immigration reform that begins with enforcement at the border.
  • (4) He begins his first-person narrative in words that echo the famous opening of Twain’s novel ( No 23 in this series ), a frank disavowal of “all that David Copperfield kind of crap”.
  • (5) Becoming "nice" isn't a natural process, and all sorts of things have to be disavowed along the way.
  • (6) UN, human rights groups and refugee groups demand solutions following Nauru data leak – as it happened Read more Giles did not disavow the policy Labor resolved at the national conference but he said: “That material shows [the immigration minister] Peter Dutton’s claims that asylum seekers are safe are baseless.
  • (7) Earlier this month, Jenny McCarthy, the anti-vaccine movement's loudest proponent, disavowed her earlier arguments .
  • (8) Europe and US urge Turkey to respect rule of law after failed coup Read more The statements by opposition leaders and top military officers, including army commanders, disavowing the coup sealed its fate.
  • (9) Nicknamed “Mad Dog”, though he has disavowed the label, the former Marine Corps general has criticised the Barack Obama administration for surrendering US leadership in the world and expressed strong support for Nato.
  • (10) In Damascus, still a stronghold of the Syrian president, there was little faith on Saturday that rebel groups would honour elements of the deal to disavow extremism.
  • (11) Recently, Scott Alpert, a former treatment provider at a Malibu facility, penned a scathing disavowal: "At the Malibu treatment centre where I worked, the focus was on caring for the client's creature comforts instead of healing their core issues that contributed to their substance abuse, alcohol abuse, or other addictive behaviour.
  • (12) They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else.” Hagel said Isis, also kown as Isil, which began as al-Qaida’s Iraq affiliate before being disavowed last year over its brutality, was a calibre above previous terrorist organisations the US has faced.
  • (13) McCorvey, who has since disavowed abortion, told Fox News: "I'm a peaceful protester, but if they come, they'll just take me away."
  • (14) The immigration minister declined an invitation by television presenter Andrew Bolt to disavow all immigration from the Middle East, or to screen people for “cultural compatibility” with Australia.
  • (15) The history of child sexual abuse, whether viewed by parent via child, therapist via patient, or adult survivor via the child within, is one of unimaginable pain and betrayal masked by adult distancing, disavowal, victim blame, and identification with the aggressor.
  • (16) In a hastily-convened press conference, the Republican presidential candidate confirmed the authenticity of the video and opted against disavowing the views expressed in it.
  • (17) Among MPs, his appointment was seen as a disavowal of Corbyn’s commitment to create a political consensus.
  • (18) In the symptoms the author observed signs of defective personality functioning such as disavowal of reality, low anxiety tolerance, various forms of identity disturbances.
  • (19) Man behind RRS Boaty McBoatface disavows his name for polar vessel Read more The name was first put forward by former BBC radio presenter James Hand, who expressed surprise at the furore Boaty McBoatface has caused.
  • (20) First preparation camps For the mujahid on the day he joins the Islamic State, whether as a muhajir or from the ansar: and the camp includes sharia sessions through which the mujahid studies the fiqh [jurisprudence] of the rulings, Islamic doctrine, al-wala’ and al-bara’ [loyalty and disavowal], in addition to the arts of fighting and the arts of using weapons, with screening of every mujahid in a specialty in which he excels and completing his camp according to his skill in specific weapons.