Heteronym
"Refuse" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say REF-yoos when it means trash or waste (noun), and rih-FYOOZ when it means to decline or say no (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
REF-yoos
trash or waste
“Put the refuse in the bin.”
verb
rih-FYOOZ
to decline or say no
“I refuse to give up.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| REF-yoos | noun | trash or waste |
| rih-FYOOZ | verb | to decline or say no |
"Refuse" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say REF-yoos when it means trash or waste (noun), and rih-FYOOZ when it means to decline or say no (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced REF-yoos, "refuse" is a noun meaning trash or waste. For example: "Put the refuse in the bin."
Pronounced rih-FYOOZ, "refuse" is a verb meaning to decline or say no. For example: "I refuse to give up."
"Refuse" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “refuse”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.