nægtende

Nægtende is a Danish present participle derived from the verb nægte, meaning to deny or refuse. In use, nægtende functions as an adjective or attributive modifier, describing someone’s stance or a statement as denying or refraining. The form inflects like other participial adjectives and agrees with the noun it modifies, for example: en nægtende person, to nægtende personer, et nægtende udsagn.

Nægtende can appear in various syntactic positions. It may modify a noun, as in en nægtende holdning (a denying attitude) or et nægtende svar (a denying/negative answer). It can also appear predicatively, for instance: Han gav et nægtende svar, eller Holdningen var nægtende til forslaget. In these contexts, the word emphasizes an active denial or refusal rather than a simple absence of agreement.

Semantically, nægtende conveys a stronger stance than merely using negation particles like ikke, since it highlights the act of denying or opposing. It is common in formal, academic, legal, and political discourse, but is also found in everyday language when describing attitudes or positions.

Related terms include nægtelse, which is the noun form meaning denial or refusal, and afvisning, a more neutral or formal term for rejection. Nægtende distinguishes a qualitative stance (a person or statement that denies) from general negation.

See also: negation, nægtelse, afvisning.