Leugnung

Leugnung is a German noun meaning denial or negation. It derives from the verb leugnen, to deny or repudiate, and is used to describe the act of refusing to acknowledge a fact, truth, or reality.

In psychology, denial is a defense mechanism in which a person refuses to accept reality or facts, often to reduce anxiety. It can appear in coping with injury, illness, trauma, or distress. While denial may have short-term adaptive value in buffering shock, persistent denial can hinder treatment, decision-making, and adjustment to circumstances.

In public discourse, Leugnung has a broader sociopolitical dimension. It refers to denying well-supported facts, events, or scientific conclusions, sometimes as a deliberate rhetorical strategy. Notable forms include Holocaustleugnung (Holocaust denial) and Klimaleugnung (climate-change denial). Denialism is the systematic rejection of established knowledge, often accompanied by selective evidence, misinformation, or reframing of questions.

Leugnung intersects with ethics and law when misinformation influences policy, accountability, or collective memory. Scholars distinguish between individual psychological denial and collective or ideological denial, noting that the latter can contribute to social conflict or impedes consensus-building.

See also: denial, negation, denialism.