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Many a times I used the word "unaccept". But everytime our system shows redline (spellcheck). I believe it is the opposite of "accept", correct?

If its a mistake, what should I use?

Ravan
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    It is (almost) always valid to prefix any well-behaved active verb with "un", to denote the undoing of the verb's action. Spell checkers typically will not accept this, but that is their loss. But keep in mind that "un" should be used for undoing the verb's action. If the entity in question has not already been "accepted" then "unaccept" is the wrong term -- it should be, eg, "reject". – Hot Licks Dec 08 '15 at 02:53
  • *Many a times I used the word "unaccept".* There are no cases in which "unaccept" can be used - it's basically not a word, and this is why your spell-checker flags it. As above, the usual word would be "reject". – Cargill Dec 08 '15 at 03:17
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    There are no cases in which "unaccept" can be used ,here is an example: "Please unaccept the answer". "I asked him to unaccept the answer". Are these examples enough @Cargill – Ravan Dec 08 '15 at 03:34
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    No they are not - I still believe that "unaccept" is not an English word - you might well unagree. – Cargill Dec 08 '15 at 03:41
  • Hey @Cargill nope, It might be my mistake. I just mentioned, where I was used it before. thank you :) – Ravan Dec 08 '15 at 04:13
  • What about ''unacceptable''? I heard it many times in many places. – Grizzly Dec 08 '15 at 04:32
  • Related question, pertaining to "unlike" on Facebook: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/30332/should-it-be-an-unlike-or-dislike-button-on-facebook – Golden Cuy Dec 08 '15 at 04:53
  • @Cargill I understand what you're showing by using unagree, but wouldn't disagree be the right word, in a real sense and in the "un" sense? Not due to disagree being a real word, but because OP hadn't agreed with you prior to writing the comment, and thus can't reverse his (nonexistent) decision to agree. – Jonny Henly Dec 08 '15 at 05:04
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    I think the issue here is that while "unaccept" sounds like a valid synonym for "reject," it isn't, really. If I turn in a proposal and you give it right back, you haven't unaccepted it, you've just rejected it. On the other hand, if you accept the proposal, then read it far more closely over the weekend and find a flaw, and thus give it back to you, that might be unaccepting it. Jonny seems to figure this out, and the definitions below point towards it as well. – Exal Dec 08 '15 at 08:09
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    @Cargill Unaccept is most certainly an English word. Despite what the accepted answer says, it’s not even vintage (at least, not only). It’s frequently used right here on StackExchange sites where answers can be accepted and subsequently unaccepted. That alone is a case in which unaccept can be used, and there are other similar contexts. – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 05 '19 at 17:00
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    You say you use 'unaccept' frequently. Could you give us an example or two of the context please? – BoldBen May 05 '19 at 23:24

2 Answers2

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Unaccept is not a word? I find that unacceptable! :P

  1. (rare) To rescind one's acceptance of - Wiktionary.org

See?

The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary - Merriam-Webster.com

Oh rats.

  1. (rare) To rescind one's acceptance of - YourDictionary.com

Hah!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There aren't any definitions for unaccept yet. - UrbanDictionary.com

Dang, not even in there?

Wait, the OED does cite a usage of it:

  1. acceptor, n. View full entry 1665

...uld (if he could) unaccept the Bill , or make voyde his Acceptanc...

1665, so it exists, but it's vintage?

I guess it depends on who you ask.

You shouldn't fault your spell checker for flagging it. No one has any real authority to tell you not to use it but it is certainly not popular enough that you should use it unawares.

Unawares is a word right?

Community
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candied_orange
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    I don't think the downvoter(s) got your intro joke : ( – Jonny Henly Dec 08 '15 at 05:07
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    @JonnyHenly They might have. I'm not nearly as funny as I think I am. – candied_orange Dec 08 '15 at 05:08
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    Perhaps the best compromise between those who regard this as a genuine word and those who insist that it isn't would be to say that the word does exist (and means to rescind one's previous acceptance), but that it is almost never found outside Internet-related contexts. – jsw29 Dec 12 '20 at 17:27
  • @jsw29 we had the internet in 1665? I didn’t get it until the 90s. I feel so left out. – candied_orange Dec 12 '20 at 17:31
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With a verb and suffix un, doesn't it need to have already happened and the same forces of physics apply to both in reverse due to it being UNDONE!???? Do and undo, an action that can be reversed. tie and untie

If you accept... You can't unaccept unless the person gives you that option. A new verb is required as a new action is in place.

Example:

me:I accept.

you: Thanks, deal!

me: Wait, I unaccept

you: No, tough shit fuck face

me.............. Can we come to a new arrangement?

and then another action is required to stop the deal. otherwise it is refuse or undo or get the fuck out of my office... The subject takes a new action. Because the original action required more that 1 human (usually for this verb) and to reverse the action linguistically would also take the same 2 in unison, if only 1 does it, unaccepts it, it is a new action. If they both unaccept it... It is fucking impossible as one is giving and one is receiving, if they both unaccept it, time would stand still and the sun might scorch the earth. Imagine how a woman would unaccept a woody which has already gone inside without a new action happening....................

For the record:

Before about 1700 it was a rare use word. PLEASE don't ask me where I learnt/learned this from, I did a BA TESOL and it's in there.

It is fair to say that if it hasn't circulated at least semi-commonly via millions of speakers for 400 years we can say it was fucked off and reject or refuse took over as.... Many opposing adjectives use completely different words (Pre-Latin influence I believe, Germanic or Slavic), hot-unhot.... doesn't really cut it right... but could in an alternative universe where a celebrity used it in a sex tape for more fame but.... I digress, unaccept is a verb and not an adj soooooooooooooooo as with some verbs: they either are or they are not. Like run.... we can't say a little bit run or unrun (without a time machine, it's a jog or jogging but the meaning is clear. But you might unagree.

Rich Best
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    Deals are not the only thing that can be accepted. Answers on this very site are accepted by askers as being the ‘correct’ or most suitable ones, but if an even better one comes along, it’s not at all unusual for askers to unaccept the answer they originally accepted. I don’t see how “forces of physics” have anything to do with anything here. – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 05 '19 at 17:03
  • Can you unaccept the question? – Rich Best May 05 '19 at 19:10
  • https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unaccept – Rich Best May 05 '19 at 19:22