35 Awful Instances Women Proved They Can Say A Lot Worse Than “No”

It takes a certain kind of courage to wear your heart on your sleeve and express romantic interest in someone. Unrequited love is so common that the mere thought of rejection can send a frisson of fear through anyone. Yet, according to some devastated suitors, rejection itself might not even be the worst part. Online, men who claim love has stomped on their hearts have been sharing the most heartless refusals they’ve faced. Brutally spurned by the objects of their affection, these men turned to Reddit to reveal the unexpectedly harsh dismissals they received from the women they tried to court, and we've shared the most ruthless accounts in the gallery below.

#1

Image source: Goose_Biscuits11, Getty Images We were in high school, I sat next to her and we started talking, everything was going great so I asked if she wanted to go see a movie. She looked around and then said "Look, I don't want to be mean so just tell people we found out we're cousins." Then it was awkward for a few seconds until she switched seats. I can still smell the room we were in because of how bad that memory is burned in my brain - ouch Patricia, not cool. Disastrous-Score-213: Similar situation. In high school I would ride the bus with a girl who was a distant cousin. We both knew we were related, and I assumed she was aware that she was not a love interest. My other, closer cousin and I were going to a movie, and I asked if she'd like to go, too, thinking that I was asking a cousin to accompany two other cousins to a movie in order to watch a movie. She must have thought I was asking her on a date, because she said "aren't we related?" Me, having no idea why that would matter when going to a movie with family, said "So?" I was in utter confusion because I was already going to the movies with my cousin, and she was my cousin, so why wouldn't another cousin go to a movie just because we are related? Took years to realize that she thought I was asking her on a date, and then I realized she thought I didn't care about dating a relative after my response. I still cringe thinking about it.

#2

Image source: drunkenfool, Meg This wasn’t on her, but I still think about how awkward it was and how I wanted to [disappear]. The setup to this was I thought I had a secret admirer in my junior year of high school. I received a couple notes from an unidentified girl, nothing over the top but just enough to seem legit saying she thought I was cute and asking if I had a girlfriend. This was early 90’s so no social media, texting ect. I would find out later this all was a prank devised by my friends, and still can’t believe I bought it. I can’t remember the exact detail on how my friends “discovered” the identify of the girl, but they gave me the info one day and I took it as real. I knew of this girl at school, but had never talked to her before. I was walking to class with my buddies, we see this girl in the hallway take a turn and is heading away from us to class. My buddies get on me to “go ask her out man!!! She wants to hang out with you”. They get me pumped up enough to go chase her down in the hallway. I get to her and say “Hey (her name here), I got your notes and definitely would be interested in hanging out sometime with you”. The look of puzzle and confusion on her was so incredible, It immediately hit me that this was all a joke put on by my buddies. She says back to me “I have no idea what notes you are talking about, and I have no idea who you are. And if you can not talk to me again, that would be great.” I still get hit with that random memory and it hits me in the chest just like it did then. NearbyCow6885: With friends like that, who needs enemies.

#3

Image source: BellySmash, Lia Bekyan She berated me for 2 minutes calling me fat, loser, ugly with all of the above in combinations. I was 13. I had kids who bullied me and said “that was rough man, I’m sorry”. NobodyLost972: Imagine being such a jerk even your bullies we're like "damn bro, that's rough"

#4

Image source: pocket_full_of_dew, Vitaliy Shevchenko It was Halloween, and I was at a bar. There were 2 girls who were clearly besties, and they were very aware that they were the hottest girls at the bar. They were each wearing typical hot girls Halloween costumes. Think ‘devil costume’ consisting of a red dress and plastic devil horns. I don’t remember what their exact costumes were, but I went up to one of them and said “Hey, you look like a cute [whatever her costume was]” She responded with “You look like a loser.” They both laughed and walked away. I laugh now when I think about it, and the story always gets a rise when I tell it. But at the time, I felt like a loser. unreall_23: How people can be so intentionally cruel. In my life, I can honestly say that i haven't purposely put someone down. Wrenchheader: Immature minds don't care.

#5

Image source: Onion_Guy, Ivan Lapyrin I think this might make it worse, but it actually occurred when she was asking me out. She said “I’m only asking you because I’m desperate” DrGeraldBaskums: Nice how’d the date go? OP: It was awkward. We watched Horton Hears a Who and shared Raisinettes, and she asked me halfway through if she could hold my hand. I was like sure. We didn’t go on a second date. helen269: Sounds like someone who has never been approached, has never been chatted up, has never been asked out on a date, and was "desperate" to know what it was like.

#6

Image source: 100percentapplejuice, Dev Asangbam Girl here. He laughed, called his buddies over (some of them were girls too) and proceeded to make fun of me. I’ll never forget that feeling in my chest ever. rivlet: This happened to me in fifth grade. They chased me all over the playground shouting, "Why would anyone like you?! You're gross/a nerd/have glasses/stupid!". It went on for over ten minutes because they were just riling each other up to have a go at me. I ended up standing my ground at some point and scratching one of them on the nose. I got sent to the principal's office and forced to apologize to them. Meanwhile, when I got home, my uncle spanked me so hard I couldn't sit down for a bit because I "attacked some boys". My aunt had me write an apology letter to one of the boys because his mom was a patient of hers. 0/10, would not recommend.

#7

Image source: Tandybaum, Getty Images When I was in like 8th grade we had a dance. I spent like an hour hyping myself up to ask this girl for a dance. I walked up to a group of the girls and ask her and she just kneed me in the nuts. No words and just that. I never did figure out what the hell that was about. SgtDoakes123: Ah yes memory unlocked. Was 16 or 17 at a bonfire kinda outdoors party/gathering. Saw a cute girl standing with two friends whom I'd never seen before so I decided to go over and talk to her. I was gonna say something like "Excuse me do you know where people are getting drinks" or some super smooth thing like that. I got to "Excu.." before she punched me in the stomach and I doubled over on the ground gasping for air. Took me a minute or two to recover and when I got back up they were gone so didn't even get to curse them out. Good times.

#8

Image source: ItsAllinYourHeadComx, Blake Cheek I wrote her a note asking her out, she wrote 'Ew' on it and sent it back. Chillow_Ufgreat: She sent me the note, with the "will you go out with me yes/no" boxes to check. Even wrote "Serious - not a joke!" at the bottom. So I checked yes and sent it back. So imagine my reaction to discovering that it was, in fact, a joke.

#9

Image source: Old-Ostrich-9352, ablo Merchán Montes She said “(my last name) you make me sick”. That was over 50 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. ModernDayTiefling: "Lovesick?" ??

#10

Image source: Hot-Mouse-2077, Getty Images She said ‘Aww’ and patted my shoulder. I’ve never recovered. EasyMode556: This isn’t too far from when I mustered all the courage I had to call a girl I thought was cute and ask her to prom. Her response was to go “awwwww, that’s so cute!” like I was some small child. She said no of course. She wasn’t trying to be mean but it was a devastating blow. Like at least take me seriously and treat me as a peer, instead of some confused puppy?

#11

Image source: RTCielo I had this girl friend who was crazy into one of the other guys in our friend group but was really shy. One day she was feeling confident and started flirting with him. He said "You know, you're so weirdly attractive. Like not in a conventional way, but I bet there's someone who's super into it." Here's the twist: he actually had a crush on her. He thought he was flirting back. kopitar-11: He was thinking like a teenage boy.

#12

Image source: former-theatre-kid, Getty Images I unintentionally destroyed a boy once who asked me out in high school. He and I never really talked, but he sat in front of me in chemistry class. One day, he was stretching at his desk with his back arched over the back of his chair and he looks at me (with his face upside down) and says with a goofy grin, “Will you go out with meh?” I responded, “Are you joking…?” Because I genuinely couldn’t tell given how he delivered it. Turns out he was not. He turned back around and never spoke to me again. Looking back, I probably came off as horrible and mean—like I was saying the thought of dating him was laughable, a joke. I think about it every now and again and feel terrible. I really wasn’t trying to embarrass him! MsAnthropied: I did that. I was picked on and bullied at the school in my hometown. One of the favorite ways to do so was for the popular guys to dare one another to ask out an ugly girl and they often picked me. I wasn't actually ugly though. I was just unkept and poorly dressed due to poverty and neglect. When I moved in with Dad, I suddenly had clothes that were bought to fit me instead of hand me downs and it was possible to be clean and hygienic. The first few times someone asked me out, I responded with hostility because I thought it was the same old stuff starting up at a new school. It wasn't until years later at a reunion of sorts that one of them asked me why I was nice to him until he asked me out that I realized he had meant it back then. I awkwardly apologized and explained things to him and he was fine, but I still felt terrible for lashing out at the others.

#13

In high school, I didn’t have a date for senior prom. A girl I knew said she knew a gal who really wanted to go (she was a Junior so had to be invited by a senior). When she was introduced to me, this girl said “Oh wait, that’s him? Nevermind, I don’t want to go THAT much.”. Image source: mistahbrown1

#14

Image source: vocaloid_orgasm, Tri Vo Nearly 19 years ago and I remember it clearly. After nine months together, we were on a bit of a break. I thought things were starting to pick up again, we go to lunch, I drop her at her house and then she hits me with “I didn’t miss you as much as I thought I would” and ended it. That was a fun thing to hear and then have to go back to work. vercertorix: I went out with someone a few times, and then after a weekend when we didn’t go out, she basically told me she had a great time doing her favorite hobby and hanging out with her brother and sister, and that it made her realize she enjoyed herself more doing all that than spending time with me. At the time, felt pretty unfair that I was supposed to be able to compete with her favorite thing and a couple of her favorite people that early into it, but long after that rejection, I realize it’s valid. Sometimes people will grow closer, but she gave me an honest shot and decided she wasn’t that interested. Just a surprise because it seemed to be going well. I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that any reason to break up with someone is probably valid or at least there’s no point trying to convince them otherwise. The rejection still sucks, but if they’re not that invested in the relationship, it’s not likely to last, you’d just be putting the ending off if you managed to be persuasive enough to get them to stay. Easier opinion to hold now that I’m married and out of the dating game. If my wife decides she wants a divorce, which I wouldn’t see coming right now, I’d probably think differently for a while.

#15

Image source: JesseCuster40, Its me Pravin Furiously: "Don't ever smile at me again like that. You're ugly and I do *not* fancy you." The kicker was, I saw her outside of school, at a shop, with one of her parents. And all I did was smile at her because hey, there's someone I know from school. I was under no illusions that she had any interest in me. Still emotionally devastated to the point where it makes me wince to remember, 36 years later. Nebraskabychoice: You can't see it, but I am smiling at you RIGHT NOW.

#16

Image source: Jerstopholes, Alireza heidarpour Long story, but really funny in retrospect. Liked a girl at church, this was around the age of 11/12. I remembered a story my dad told me where he would send cute little notes to my mom through feiends to let her know he liked her. So I started to do that with this girl, passed her notes every so often. Unbeknownst to me, I had competition from one of the other guys in Sunday School. So he caught wind of my cute idea, forged a note in my handwriting, and completely sabotaged me. Whatever he wrote, it was enough to make this girl's father approach my parents, show them the note, and then they all had to sit down and have a chat with me about not being "pursuant" in such an aggressive and creepy manner. The girl's older sister also approached me a week or so later and told me to leave her sister alone, and that I wasn't allowed to talk with any of them anymore. Then, the girl apologized and told me she had hated my guts anyway. Thanks, Jared, wherever the hell you are, sure was a good prank! HotWaffles5: That wasn’t Christianly of him. Jared is a jerk.

#17

Image source: SonuvaGunderson, Siora Photography Not me but I saw it happen in middle school. Girl has crush on boy. On April 1, boy asks girl out. Girl can’t believe it. Boy says, “April Fools!” and dips. Girl proceeds to have a very bad mental health week. Not3Beaversinacoat: Happened to me to, though not on April Fools. Of course, by 8th grade I was already so mentally messed up I assumed it was some sort of trick because who'd like me.

#18

I was 14-15ish and setup a double movie date with two girls and my buddy. We plan it out and get the tickets online. Later on she lets us know that the other girl’s parents were not letting it happen and cancelled. Bummer but my buddy and I decided to go since we already bought the tickets. As we pull up to the front of the theater, sure enough, there they both are with two other guys. She noticed me and locked eyes. I just turned and left with my buddy. We ended up just walking to a nearby AppleBees, ate, and tipped the waiter the money we had for the date. Not 100% sure but I think she married that dude she was with. Image source: SwampShooterSeabass

#19

"its just not the same in person" after I spent $1500 and flew across the country in the middle of covid to see my long distance gf. Image source: Ranoutofoptions7

#20

Image source: ModernDayTiefling, petr sidorov I'm a woman and was only the witnessing bartender, but I still caught second hand damage: I was working a Friday night shift covering at another bar in the chain I worked for, and saw a guy spend about twenty minutes working up the courage to go up to a stereotypically preppy pretty girl and her friends. He looked like a nice enough lad, shy, a little nerdy, but looked well put together and decently handsome (I guess? Idk, I'm into women). He started with some opening greeting line I didn't hear, she interrupted him with an abrupt zip motion across the air and a curt "What car do you drive?" He stuttered out a suddenly off-balanced "Uh.. Ford Fiesta?" and she'd rolled her eyes and fully turned her back on him before he'd finished pronouncing the 's'. I felt bad for the guy and couldn't help but be a little terse to her thereafter. If you're not interested, that's more than fair enough, but there was no need for that level of callousness. NihatAmipoglu: He dodged a bullet tbh.

#21

Image source: h8hate, behrouz sasani Pretty blonde girl used to always tease me in high school and let me play with her hair and stuff all the time. One day, I finally built up the courage to ask for her phone number in front of other classmates. She loudly says "(my name), NOOOOO! ?" and laugh out loud. A few other guys and girls laughed at me with her. Still haven't recovered from that one. deathmetalreptar: Let you play with her hair? Jesta23: She might’ve liked you but you weren’t “cool” enough to admit to her friends.

#22

Image source: Puzzled-Split-5366, Getty Images I'm a girl. For context, I had feelings for my male bestfriend for years. So I finally confessed. He rejected me, basically saying that he couldnt imagine being in a relationship with me, and then he said that we should be friends with benefits. He also specified that if we would become FWB, it absolutely had to be a secret and that I shouldn't tell anybody. 18 years old virgin me was heartbroken by that, but also was stupid enough to accept being FWB. Not my finest moment lol. BullHonkery: I had one of those. "OK, we can go out, but you can't tell anybody." In retrospect she was trying to be nice and do the right thing, but man was that awkward when I figured it out a couple months later after she told me she was going to prom with another guy.

#23

I was dating someone in college and I was head-over-heels for her. She was talented, quirky, beautiful. She drew comics for our college newspaper. I don't actually know how we ended up "officially" dating, I have a feeling we both got drunk one night and just agreed to it, but alas, we were dating for a while. The thing is, she was just not...present. She never had time to hang out, she never wanted to talk, she never really seemed to show any real interest in me or the relationship (we once went 4 days without talking...I asked her if she thought that was normal, she bluntly said "yes") Anyway. Being younger and dumber, I decided to try and double-down fixing it rather than seeing the forest through the trees, so to speak. So I finally got her to hang out with me, and we decided to go get lunch at some greek spot in Chicago. After a few pleasantries, I started to bring up all the things mentioned above, genuinely attempting to get an answer out of her for why it was like this: in my head, I had done something wrong, because why else would she have said yes to dating in the first place if she wasn't interested? After a little bit of prodding, I just kind of laid it all out there and waited for her to speak her mind. She simply looked at me and said, "maybe you just like me more than I like you" so casually, as if she was telling a customer service worker what her usual order was. I was devastated, but ended up working up *some* modicum of self-worth and got up and left in the middle of the meal. Well, obviously that didn't hurt, because I'm not still thinking about it 13 years later. Image source: spacejam2

#24

In high school track, a girl cornered me on the bus, and tried to make me go through every girl between 10th and 12th grade of who I "liked." I told her I didn't want to date anyone at our school really. She wouldn't take no for an answer. One sophomore on our team I told her didn't annoy me, mostly because she didn't talk much. When she did it was sarcastic one liners usually. This girl immediately went up to that sophomore and told her I was into her. I was about 50 feet away, but it was loud enough for me to hear what happened. The quiet sophomore practically screamed, “Oh my god gross! No!” in front of everyone. Yeah that's one that sticks with you. Image source: goatpunchtheater

#25

Image source: Misdirected_Colors "Hmm, I'm not sure I even like you as a friend, but sure you can take me out why not." My confidence was torched for years and that was the worst most awkward date of my life lol. MaxMouseOCX: ... You still went on the date... Shouldn't have done that. OP: My brain went into "so you're saying there's a chance" full denial mode lol Besides backing out is almost worse it was all bad. 10 years later and I wake up in a cold sweat sometimes remembering lmao

#26

Image source: More-Journalist-5102 I asked my crush to go to the prom with me. Her response was "I would rather sit home alone than go to the prom with YOU!" And so began a lifetime of self esteem issues. ejt159: I asked my crush to prom too, she said “uuuuuuh no? Go ask (my cousin).” I didn’t even know how to respond so I just walked away

#27

Image source: TheNorthernBaron Nothing. Things have been frosty as home. I said to my wife: "I don't feel like you love me anymore, the way you behave it's like you don't even like me" she just starred and then turned and left the room. 2026 is not my year. where_is__my_mind: WAAAAIIITTT. I dated this guy for a year in college and I started going through a hard time and felt like he was just staying with me to be polite. I was crying one night about how I didn't think anyone actually cared about me and eventually said 'i feel like you don't even love me anymore' and he responded with 'actually, I dont' and that's how we broke up. Im so sorry you are going through the same thing, with a married partner nonetheless.

#28

Probably a good 30 years ago, I was out with two of my buddies and we meet up with a trio of girls. They immediately start talking to two of them, just kind of leaving me with this other girl, I go to chat with her and she just holds up a finger: "No offense, but I'm tied of my girls running off with the 7 and the 8 and leaving me alone with the 4." Ouch. Image source: medium_buffalo_wings

#29

Not exactly what's being asked but in the same ballpark. In highschool I asked a friend of mine out by asking if she wanted to see a particular movie with me. She said yes, we agreed to see it after school in a few days... and when I came to school the next day she said she spoke to a few of our other friends and invited them to come too. I didn't muster the confidence to explain that I intended it as a date until we were already walking to the cinema with half a dozen of our friends. She said she didn't like me that way. The walk was awkward as hell but at least the movie was fun. Image source: Jonesy949

#30

Image source: Hot-Recognition-7190 So I’m a girl, but when I was in 6th grade I had a crush on an admittedly nerdy guy in a few classes of mine. I loved how smart he was and wasn’t a flirt. One day my mom comes to school and says we’re leaving and never coming back (fleeing DV) and I decided to just spill my guts. “Phillip, I have had a big crush on you.” He looks at me and says “Ew.” I was absolutely mortified. piccolo_bsc: Wasn't it more like a "he's a kid and still thinks girls are ew" ew rather than him finding you ew?

#31

Image source: Demonking3343, Mathilde Langevin She said yes……..then later went over to her ex boyfriend and said “take me back or I’ll actually go out with him. And who knows what would happen to me”. That was very depressing to over hear. Edit: and the girl before that told everyone I asked her out and made me a laughing stock for the rest of the day. And the next. So yeah in conclusion there is worst she can say than just no. AdAppropriate2295: Demon king origin story

#32

I was talking to a girl on nye. It's 11:50 pm. They're doing the count for the ball drop. I'm standing against a wall, drink in one hand, the other hand around her waist. She has her arms around my shoulders. I off-handedly mentioned I was broken up with recently by a woman. Her jaw dropped, removed her hands from my shoulders, said "omg I thought you were gay I'm so sorry", and then disappeared into the crowd. It's been two months, I think I have thought about it every day since. Image source: SausageScientist01

#33

New middle school for 8th grade and there’s this really cute Asian girl in class who’s name I’ll never forget. one of my “friends” asks me if I think she’s cute and I say ofcourse. About two minutes later he taps my shoulder and I see her reading a note I didnt write, she laughs, looks at me and gets uncomfortable then throws it on the ground…. At which point her friend kneels on her seat like a meerkat and interrupts class to say “FOR THE LAST TIME SHES NOT INTERESTED, you’re fat” Bruuuuutal ? took me about two years (and puberty) to lose the weight and I thought about it every time I was on the treadmill. Image source: NileakTheVet

#34

She said “I’ve already found my prince, I don’t need to kiss any more frogs!”. Image source: ordinarybloke1963

#35

Image source: Sufficient_Hawk737, Gabriel Ponton Female here he said "I've been thinking about whether I want or need you in my life and the answer to both is no". AppropriateAmoeba406: “I don’t like or respect you. We shouldn’t be together.” We stayed together for another YEAR! Because we were both idiots, apparently.