拒绝
jùjué · HSK 5
to refuse; to decline; to reject
🚫 拒 = hand 扌+ 巨 (huge) = push away; 绝 = cut off (silk 纟+ 色)
拒 jù pairs the hand radical 扌 with 巨 (huge) — a hand warding off something big, i.e. refuse. 绝 jué shows silk 纟being severed — to cut off. Together 拒绝 = push away and cut off = deny, reject.
绝 — silk 纟 + 巴 (phonetic-ish, knife cutting threads)
绝 originally depicted cutting silk threads with a knife, conveying the idea of severing or cutting off completely. From this concrete sense it extended to mean 'to break off,' 'exhausted,' and figuratively 'absolute' or 'extreme.' The simplified form replaced the older right-hand component with 巴.