Emphatic refusal

The answer

NEVER

5 letters. See every clue for this answer on the NEVER answer page.

Used 10 times across 9 distinct years; most recently in 2023; first recorded in 1976. It appears in 4 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other answers for this clue

The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.

• NOHOW (9 uses in xd)
• HECKNO (4 uses in xd)
• ISAIDNO (4 uses in xd)
• NONONO (4 uses in xd)
• NOSIREE (4 uses in xd)

Other clues for NEVER

Every other clue in this collection answered by NEVER, most used first.

• "When pigs fly!" - used 99 times, most recently in 2026
• At no time - used 63 times, most recently in 2026
• Not even once - used 31 times, most recently in 2026
• "Not in a million years!" - used 28 times, most recently in 2026
• "Over my dead body!" - used 17 times, most recently in 2026
• By no chance. - used 14 times, most recently in 1967
• "Forget it!" - used 14 times, most recently in 2025
• "Fat chance!" - used 13 times, most recently in 2019
• Not once - used 11 times, most recently in 2026
• "When hell freezes over!" - used 11 times, most recently in 2024
• "Absolutely not!" - used 10 times, most recently in 2025
• Not at all. - used 10 times, most recently in 2010
• "No way!" - used 9 times, most recently in 2024
• "Not a chance!" - used 8 times, most recently in 2026
• Adamant refusal - used 7 times, most recently in 2023
• "In a pig's eye!" - used 7 times, most recently in 2008
• "In your dreams!" - used 7 times, most recently in 2025
• Not at any time - used 7 times, most recently in 2026
• "Not on your life!" - used 7 times, most recently in 2021
• "___ say die" - used 7 times, most recently in 1997
• "___ again!" - used 6 times, most recently in 2025
• Under no circumstances - used 6 times, most recently in 2026
• "When donkeys fly!" - used 6 times, most recently in 2025

Related clues

Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.

• Polite refusal - NOSIR, used 86 times
• Respectful refusal - NOSIR, used 16 times
• Emphatic denial - NOSIR, used 11 times
• Emphatic refusal - NOHOW, used 9 times
• Emphatic turndown - NOSIR, used 9 times
• Words of refusal - IWONT, used 6 times

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