Abgelehnt

Abgelehnt is the past participle of the German verb ablehnen, meaning to reject or decline. It is used both as a participial form in compound tenses and as an adjective meaning “rejected” or “declined.”

As a verb form, abgelehnt appears with the auxiliary hat in perfect tenses: Ich habe das Angebot abgelehnt. In passive constructions, the sense of rejection is expressed with werden or in the past with wurde: Das Angebot wurde abgelehnt. In the present tense, the passive can also be heard as Die Anfrage wird abgelehnt. As an adjective, abgelehnt describes a rejected item or decision: eine abgelehnte Bewerbung.

Etymology traces abgelehnt to ablehnen, formed from the prefix ab- (indicating separation or negation) and lehnen (to reject or resist). The prefix stresses the sense of denial or refusal.

Usage and context typicall y appear in administrative, legal, and bureaucratic language. Abgelehnt is commonly used to denote decisions on applications, requests, or proposals that have not been approved, such as visas, benefits, or asylum claims. The term can carry a neutral or formal tone, depending on context, and may be contrasted with zustimmen (to approve) or akzeptieren (to accept).

See also: Ablehnung (the act or result of rejection), ablehnen (to reject), Verweigerung (refusal), Absage (cancellation or rejection notice).

Overall, abgelehnt functions as a concise descriptor of a rejected outcome in German, with broad applicability across formal communication.