-fī transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Late Latin nullificare, from nulli- + Latin -ficare -fy
1. : to make null ; specifically : to make legally null and void
we are asked to nullify legislation as an undue encroachment upon the sphere of individual liberty — B.N.Cardozo
2. : to make of no value or consequence : reduce to nothing : efface
the lightning nullified the meager table lamp — R.A.W.Hughes
the small gains made in the Colony were nullified by the Revolution — American Guide Series: North Carolina
Synonyms:
invalidate , negate , annul , abrogate : although these five verbs are almost interchangeable, nullify and invalidate carry the most general and inclusive meanings. nullify means to counteract completely the force, effectiveness, or value of something
the earlier devices for nullifying the effects of the Fifteenth Amendment were becoming outworn — Helen Sullivan
at least 19 international cartels which threaten to nullify efforts to reduce trade barriers — Current Biography
a lack of … confidence tends to nullify and destroy the results of enormous effort in technical and interpretative development — A.E.Wier
invalidate carries this general sense but adds the idea of rendering unacceptable by reason of legal or official requirements or condition not adequately met
a priest of wisdom with a flaw in his ordination and an invalidating clause in his commission — W.L.Sullivan
so many reservations, explicit and implicit, as to invalidate that pact from the outset — Vera M. Dean
we do not say that we have met with an instance which invalidates the mathematical proposition that the sum of the three angles of a Euclidean triangle is 180 degrees — A.J.Ayer
negate suggests a canceling out or a nullification of one thing by another of two mutually exclusive things
excellent clauses regarding the employment of children, they are negated not only by the negligence and venality of some local officials but also by the sheer facts of existence among the poor — George Woodcock
he discovers he has appended his signature to contracts which negate each other — Richard Maney
shock may temporarily negate the effects of drinking — Theodore Loveless
annul suggests a rendering ineffective by depriving of the power to function or rendering nonexistent, often officially or legally
the two opposing electricities, so proportioned and so disposed that each of them annuls the actions which the other would produce outside the block if it were by itself — K.K.Darrow
mystery does not annul meaning but enriches it — Reinhold Niebuhr
war, as it becomes more and more total, practically annuls the difference as to injury and exposure to danger which formerly existed between armed forces and noncombatants — H.M.Huber
the Emancipation Proclamation annulled all prior laws regarding slaves
abrogate is much like annul but has a stronger association with a legal or official purposeful act
the military clique abrogated the existing constitution — Americana Annual
the Council of Ministers … has the power to abrogate actions of the constituent republics which contravene laws or decrees of the central government — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
his audience had reached the point where it had abrogated all desire to think about anything — Nigel Dennis