From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdenialde‧ni‧al /dɪˈnaɪəl/ ●○○ AWL noun 1 [countable, uncountable]SAY/STATE a statement saying that something is not true → denydenial of The government issued an official denial of the rumour.denial that denials that border security had not been strict enough2 REFUSE[uncountable] when someone refuses to allow someone else to have or to do somethingdenial of protests against the denial of human rights3 [uncountable]MP a condition in which you refuse to admit or believe that something bad exists or has happenedin denial His girlfriend is in denial, and refuses to admit that he will soon die.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa strong denialWhen the accusation was made, it met with a strong denial.a vehement/vigorous denial (=very strong)The report led to vehement denials from the minister involved.a categorical denial (=saying very definitely that something is not true)Her categorical denial conflicted with the evidence.an angry denialThere were angry denials of corruption in the police force.an official denialThe Army has consistently issued official denials of involvement.a public denialHe refused to make any public denial.verbsissue a denial (=deny something publicly or officially)Immediately the government issued a denial of the rumours.make a denial (=deny something)He made no public denial of the allegations against him.
Examples from the Corpus
denial• It is a denial of democracy to keep smears secret.• Doctrinaire denial of a generational injustice does no justice either to the truth or to the victims.• I was in a place where I did not want to be in denial of anything.• Labour's stunning victory in 1997 left the Tory party in denial about the seriousness of its situation.• A vigorous round of denials and, yesterday, the suspension of the archivist followed.• At the medical products firm we mentioned earlier, symptoms of denial were rife.• This denial of pain extends to all aspects of life within the work place.denial of• Diaz issued a firm denial of the rumor.• the denial of basic human rightsin denial• My husband is still in denial about my rape. 