You’ve seen great examples of it in our previous compilation of rejection stories, but apparently, that was just the tip of the sad-funny iceberg. Here is another compilation of rejection stories to help you feel better on your off-days.
Dead Last
Like many of the stories on our list, this one happened in high school. What is it about teenagers in high school that make it such an intense time in our lives? Getting called ugly is definitely something that will stick with you, no matter how long ago it was.
The good news however is, the less conventionally attractive a guy is, the more likely he is to develop other areas and aspects of his personality because he can't rely solely on his #blessed looks.
Some Help Please
Sometimes we find ourselves in the hospital with serious medical conditions like appendicitis, making the appendix inflamed and incredibly painful. In these situations, we might reach out to those closest to us for a little help.
Unfortunately, not everyone will appreciate receiving these kinds of messages and instead of offering their help, or even sympathy, they'll send you an update like this.
Secret Band
Unless you're one of those people who married his or her first-grade crush, you've likely been through a few breakups. And on that bumpy road of heartbreak, there are countless reasons for cutting ties.
But who said they had to be "reasonable" reasons? Sometimes, not getting your partner's weird music style is just too awful to bear.
PB&J
Let’s face it, there are hundreds of ways you can let someone know you don't feel the same way, but none are as awkward as this one. Imagine telling someone you love them, only for them to respond that they made a peanut butter and jam sandwich.
Look, you're either the kind of person who knows how to handle receiving such a serious text or you're someone gifted with such confidence, you don't think anything of sending this gem of a text.
I've Told You
Getting heartbroken seems dramatic in romcoms, but not so much in real life when you have to face the unfortunate news of not being liked.
But apparently, this guy had it coming, as his crush has told him multiple times before that they don't like him.
Cheesy Jokes
If you haven’t mastered the art of flirting over text by now this is totally on you. Flirting with a girl over text is way easy, so long as you understand that there is a fine line between funny puns and cheesy jokes that might miss the mark.
If you really want to make a good impression on someone, try to see what their sense of humor is before you try to make them laugh, otherwise you might make them puke.
Cool Dude
Ever since the turn of the 21st century, the question has lingered: can men and women just be friends? By now, we know that there are many people out there who like their friends and as this message shows, they aren't often liked back.
Unfortunately, many people still get their hopes up, only to feel bitterly disappointed by the end.
Weirdo
While many of our messages are dotted with random nonsense, this rare text proves that not all messages are created equal. It's one thing for Kim to give you the wrong number, it's quite another to be called weirdo for it.
If you've ever been on the receiving end of this kind of message, you'll know that few messages suck as much as learning you were given the wrong number.
What's Up?
If you need to get real with someone but don't have the guts to do it face to face, you can always do it over a text message, like this one, where this person asks for his 'friend.'
Obviously, the only friend in this text exchange is the one you use to spell 'friendZONE'.
You're Welcome
The dizzying, frustrating, exhilarating rite of passage that is fishing for compliments, like this message. It might have been a sincere text he meant to send to see if he could get some bait, but it certainly did not work.
Wouldn't it be better if we could just drop these truth-bombs a little more gently?
My Bad
People like to rattle on about how honesty is the best policy in life, and yes that's true. Sometimes. But sometimes, revealing brutally honest truths to people can cause some serious repercussions.
Like this case, where one person's feelings were definitely hurt, knowing that you've put yourself out there but the person of your interest is just not that 'desperate.'
Um... Who Is This?
We have to admit, this one actually made us laugh a little too much... But if we had to be on the receiving end of that message, we can only imagine that our heart would be beyond irreparable.
Imagine professing your love to someone special and them replying with "who is this?" Ouch.
Now That's Just Mean
If texts were to tell us something about the sender, it would be that some people have an impressively evil capacity for sympathy, as is the case with this text message.
Saying you feel sorry for someone who clearly has feelings for you just means you're probably a nasty person.
At Least She's Honest
If you’re a millennial getting a phone call, it’s one of two people: your mom or a telemarketer. And as this message exchange can prove, if it wasn't anyone else, they probably didn't mean to call you.
I'll admit that Lily's delivery could have been a teensy bit better but at least she's honest. Still, it's pretty disheartening to know that she definitely wasn't trying to call you.
Secret Snapchat
Most apps help you do one thing really well and Snapchat's thing must be keeping secrets. While secrets can be good, they're only great you’re in on them. Otherwise, you feel a little silly when they're actually about you.
And while Snapchat still has an unsavory reputation for their private snaps, at least this guy's friend let him in on the secret. Turns out their secret snaps aren't so secretive after all.
Ouch
While it might not be the worst story we've heard so far, it's certainly not the best. After summoning up the courage to tell her crush how she really feels, he responds with a 'let's just nip that in the bud,' phrase that's as casual as fast-food dining.
We can't really tell if that's just cruel or actually less hurtful than blatantly rejecting her.
Dinner Date?
Dinner dates are the go-to for so many social occasions. For a first date, it's not a bad option as the convo-and-cuisine combo is, in general, the perfect fallback option. But just because it's been a courtship staple since forever doesn't mean it's a good idea.
For example, these messages tell a different story when it comes to that romantic dinner date, as this guy's invitation soon turned into an entirely different occasion.
Oh.
Text messages are famous for rejection stories, so if we were to learn anything from this list, it's not to profess your feelings over a text message and rather tell the person you like them face-to-face.
If your idea of flirting is trying out every cheesy pick-up line, then you best be prepared for this kind of rejection.
Everyone Cheered
Feeling excluded feels like a downward spiral of loneliness. But what happens when a crowd of strangers band together to keep you off the train? You'll likely feel singled out and totally alone.
What's worse, everyone cheered once the doors closed and he couldn't get on. This may all sound like a miserable premise for a sad but unrealistic movie, but unfortunately, it happened to Rajat.
Yikes
Each year, 2.2 million Americans decide to quit the single life and get married; if you're planning on being one of them, odds are you'll be dropping to one knee and proposing first.
Don't be fooled by the movies, the airport is not as romantic as they'd like you to believe and this tweet could show that it might not be the best place to make a proposal in.
Crushing Hard
More like crashing hard! It’s one thing to date in this day and age but it's quite another to be 'crushing hard,' and mistaking your crush for a boyfriend. This could also be called gaslighting, which basically means making someone question their own reality.
After two months of dating, this intense form of gaslighting singes the soul long after it's over. Hopefully, she's recovered by now.
That Was Me!
As romanticized as adolescence can be, it’s hard being young. As if 7th grade isn’t hellish enough, you also have to deal with guys who have no problem with hurting your feelings.
Even after Julie tried befriending them, they only excluded her from her own friend group! Now, that's harsh!
Med School?
They say you can't put a price on relationships, but in this case, she can. And it cost her around $60,000. Yes, med school is expensive, but that doesn't mean you have to pay his fees!
If we were her, we would put on our debt collection pants and find this guy. Not only does he owe her $60,000, but he rejected her once she paid it.
Moving Away
There’s nothing more exciting than packing up your life and buying a one-way ticket to a different city, right? OK, maybe that's what this guy was thinking and in his excitement, he failed to remember the girl he'd been dating for two and a half years!
We can't say this enough but maybe this rejection was actually a blessing in disguise. If he couldn't appreciate her but felt the need to string her along then he definitely doesn't deserve her.
Getting Good Grades
Smart girls are all the rage these days — it’s never been cooler to flaunt your knowledge and ambition. So who would have thought that getting good grades would make your significant other want to leave you? But in this weird sequence of events that happened to be the case.
As we see in this tweet, being smart doesn’t actually help women in their personal lives, especially not in romance. So while she may want to dumb herself down to get the guy, ultimately she shouldn't let her brainpower go to waste.
Not in Public
After one summer of dating, it's expected that your relationship gets serious but not that you'd be rejected by your girlfriend like this! I mean, is she even your girlfriend if you can't display your relationship in public?
I think we could all agree that this rejection must have really injured his heart, but depending on your interpretation, he could also have realized that he should embrace his nerdy side and that he deserves better.
Trolley Collection
Everyone has an image in their mind of what it’s like to be a trolley collector, almost all of which seem based on waiting for trolleys so you can gather them.
Depending on whom you ask, the job is assumed to be boring, exploitative, or underpaid but never difficult to get. This is why we know this rejection must have really stung.
Blind Date
Rejection happens to everyone. Feelings get hurt, and people keep existing. But the omnipresence of rejection doesn't make it any easier, especially when you're going on a blind date.
We're not really fans of blind dates (who is?!) but we can say that being left in the rain after your blind date intentionally drove past is the only thing worse than actually having a blind date.
Is She... Like You?
Truly, nothing can hurt your self-confidence like the line said in this tweet. What makes it worse is that it was said by a guy she had a huge crush on.
Not that we were there to know exactly how he delivered "well, that depends, is she... like you?" But we're sure it hurt her feelings and then some when he said it.
Money Can't Buy Me Love
Well, apparently, this woman didn't get the memo on what makes someone a good partner. Either that or she has her priorities all wrong.
Sure, you want someone with who you could be financially stable, but there are two people in this relationship, and good companionship is something money just can't buy.
Disney Diva
Stories that start with Disney usually have a pretty happy ending. Not his one, though. This woman saw her boyfriend through the year during which he had his career taking off.
She would have kept things going if it wasn't for a certain mom talking her son out of staying with a woman who she thought didn't fit the bill of his new glamorous life. Actually, maybe it's for the best because no one would want that kind of woman as a mother-in-law.
Funky Freckles
Okay, people have different tastes when it comes to who they are physically attracted to. That's fine. But some features are just universally attractive, such as symmetry, healthy-looking hair, or a bright smile. Now, if you ask us, freckles could definitely be part of that list.
If you ask that Paul Newman lookalike, though, he might have a different answer. We just wish he could be more subtle about it.
It Seemed So Perfect
This guy was fairly confident that if he asked this girl for a date, she would be happy to go out with him. She already gushed that they were the “perfect match.” So, with seemingly nothing to lose, he texted her. Instead of jumping at the opportunity, she blindsided him with a response he was not expecting.
It was an abrupt and bitter end to a conversation, on his end, however, there is a sense of honesty in her reply.
A High School Memory
She probably wishes she could forget this ever happened, but it is something one can never erase from their memory. It’s hard to understand how people can be so mean in real life.
For a second there, she might have been going out with the boy she liked. Only for him to laugh in her face and call her a loser. That definitely qualifies as a harsh rejection.
Couldn’t It Wait?
A double whammy. What was her boyfriend thinking? She is dealing with the tragic death of a pet, and he barrels through with the breakup announcement while she is bawling her eyes out over losing her dog.
Next, he thinks she is going to get back together with him. Completely oblivious. Looks like this guy is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Christmas in July?
This guy says his problem is that he is a special kind of ugly. Otherwise, this woman would not have to say she is booked out for the year. She claims to have rehearsal for Christmas caroling every single day.
In the middle of summer. This seems like quite a takedown story. A comedian, eh?
Kids Can Be Mean
When someone’s face is covered with acne it is very unpleasant. It makes people feel self-conscious about their looks and it is also sore and uncomfortable.
Very young children aren’t socialized yet, but it was still hard to take when the child walked up and said what he did.
Rejected. Denied. No.
He gets it. He was rejected for the position. Why beat the failed applicant over the head with a letter of refusal? The only upside is that he wasn’t alone.
He and his graduate school partner were both dismissed for the job in academia, so at least they had each other to keep positive.
A Not-So-Happy Birthday Text
This story is downright sad. He gets a text notification, expecting, naturally, a “happy birthday” message. But no. His girlfriend broke up with him by text message on his birthday.
She couldn’t wait one more day or tell him in person. And, to top it off, the breakup was sanctioned by God. He didn’t just get rejected by his girlfriend, but also by the lord himself.
Surprise!
Turning 30 is a big deal. You are wistfully leaving your twenties behind, you’re thinking about settling down and marrying, but you are not thinking about your serious boyfriend breaking up with you minutes before walking into a 30th birthday surprise party.
Why would he so thoroughly ruin her birthday and crush her hopes? It’s almost sadistic.
He Bought a House for Her
Not her, her. This is a particularly painful tale for anyone who has fallen in love with a house as a couple. Just when she and her boyfriend are sharing the anticipated excitement of a new life together, just after she moved in with him, she gets dumped for another woman.
Breaking up is certainly no fun, but when she’s moving into your dream house with your former longtime boyfriend, after having had him cheat on you, that’s harsh!
Never Mind, Just Kidding!
Two weeks is a long time when you are a 15-year-old in high school, and this boy was “over the moon” in love with a girl he’d crushed on for years. She said she always liked him and couldn’t wait to go out. Suddenly, she said she was just kidding, that she was didn’t care for him.
It was such a brutish take-down that he was afraid to ask another girl out for a long time.
Abandoned by the Cat
As far as animals go, cats are distinguished by a special kind of haughtiness that is prone to absolutely not caring about you. It’s like they think they have more of a right than you to be in your house. They live to be served and they take their leave if they are unsatisfactorily cared for.
This is what happened here. The kitty must have had preferable treatment over at the homeless camp and never came back.
Mr. Almost Perfect.
Everything about meeting him was perfect. It felt like true love. He seemed to be her soulmate. But two years later, he just wants to hang out as friends. Not only is it her worst rejection ever, but it also drags on and on.
Talking to him as a friend is torturous and he is not ready to go to the next level.
In General, Guys Love to Make Girls Laugh
If a boy can make a girl laugh, he knows he has a chance with her. In this case, sadly, he made her laugh and laugh and laugh but it was at him and not with him.
It happened decades ago, but he can still hear her laughing. This was an excessively rude way to shatter his hopes.
Female Brutality
Perhaps this woman is related to Cruella. A man walks up to her in a bar, he barely gets a hello out and she’s blocking him right there. She doesn’t stop there. She tells him he is way out of her league, ridicules his looks, and tells him to go away. It’s a humiliating greeting any day.
But he was further embarrassed because half of the bar’s patrons were staring at him. No one had his back for this case of excessive force, and he went home disgraced.
This Dude Got Schooled
And he’s not afraid to admit it. He stepped over the line, and she put him in his place. It was a work environment, and these women were representing their brand.
He shouldn’t have approached the model for a date, but he did. Her rejection was demoralizing, but the point is, he learned his lesson. Luckily, he was spared a workplace complaint.
He Never Really Got Over It
This boy was scarred for life when a middle school dance shindig went south. Boys love to make girls laugh. So just imagine how he felt when he learned that they were not, after all, laughing with him, but at him. Not only that but the girl he asked to the dance sniggered behind his back and showed everyone the note he had written.
It’s basically a shy person’s worst nightmare. He passed her a note instead of asking because he is shy, but then he was rejected and publicly ridiculed.
This One’s on Him
This man managed to reject his own work. But he didn’t stop there. In the rest of the tale that he posted on this feed, he talked about how he made screenshots of the “absolutely worst excerpts” of a short story he didn’t realize he had written and posted them online, further humiliating himself.
Finally, he sent an “appropriately polite but harsh rejection” letter out only to receive it in his own email inbox.
Getting Ghosted Is Bad Enough...
But when it is the only person who wanted to date him, it stings. This post is a very brief share, but it is no less heartbreaking. The only girl that agreed to date him has given him the cold shoulder.
But what we like about this share is the optimism. The girl has “so far” ghosted him. Let’s hope she finally came around.
But Not You
What is most appalling about this rejection story is that a mother sponsored it. In what can only be called a cruel mean-girls plot, the mom deviously piled all the girls into the car to deceive this one kid. It’s just what we would expect from an evil stepmom in the movies, but never in real life.
Surely it was disappointing to find out the slumber party had been canceled, but just think about how awful she felt when she found out.
An Elusive Rejection
Communication was not a strong point in this relationship, evidently. For all he knew, the two were engaged, planning to marry, and probably doing some house hunting.
Going off and buying a house on his own was not part of the plan but it did send a strong signal that this couple was no longer engaged.
Racial Insensitivity
Being rejected by people is demoralizing. But being cast aside because of who you are in the world, is also heart-wrenching. That little girl’s mother taught her a cruel and uncaring epithet.
It hatefully mischaracterized a child at a young age. She can never unhear those words.
Real-Life Mean Girls
In this display of excessive force, a group of sixth-grade girls got together and conspired to get rid of a lunch table schoolmate. The mean girls went through the trouble of drawing up a petition and signing it.
And then they read it out loud so everyone could hear. This was a blistering rejection. Why were they so malicious?
Crushed By Her Crush
This did not go as planned. It’s safe to assume that she got a permanent to look cuter. Perhaps to impress this boy. A full head of curls can be beautiful.
But the boy she liked just laughed at her instead, comparing her to the famous child actress and dancer.
WWJD?
What would Jesus do? We don’t know, but not this. It’s a mistake to assume, apparently, that kids at a Catholic high school would be kind. The boy she had a serious crush on walked up to her with a group of classmates to back him up, only to announce that nobody likes her amidst callous laughter.
It was worse because it was a small school, and she was mortified in front of half the class.
Ouch
An anonymous negative review is painful enough. But when you read a brutally honest critique of something you worked on for a long time, and it turns out it was written by a close friend, it’s going to hurt.
The good news is that these two are still great friends. And, still better, she was able to edit and publish the work.
Words to Walk Away With
After looking at all of these devastating stories of rejection, it’s valuable to see that sharing our setbacks can help us accept and move on. In this tweet, Dr. Davies's words are nothing short of inspirational.
“These rejections do not define you.” It is a powerful message that anyone who has been dealt a harsh rejection can take home with them. We are as worthy then as we are after the rejection happened.
Fun Times
The man in this post had two brutal rejections to share. The first woman laughed him off, but the second woman almost dated him. They met and exchanged phone numbers. Things seemed to be going well. She even accepted an offer to go on a date. The day before, unfortunately, her grim message arrived.
They would not be going out because, in essence, she hooked up with someone better. That’s gotta hurt.
Instant karma
Instant karma got this meanie. She cruelly shut down a guy who was just saying hello. She’s got her hand in his face, she’s shouting, “No!” at him. Sometimes there is someone there to stand up to the rejection bully. It would have been a beautiful sight to see.
The bartender witnesses Cruella assaulting one of his regulars, and, without missing a beat, he informs her that he can refuse service to anyone, and she needs to get out of his bar.
Drive-by Heartbreak
We all have a specific association coming to mind upon hearing about a drive-by. But this drive-by pierced her through the heart harder than any bullet. After getting to know each other in chats, they planned to meet.
He took one look at her and drove right by. Not only that, but he also ghosted her. This story has a sad ending with a crushing heartbreak.
She Cracked His Heart Like a Nut
Dating as a teenager is new and scary and usually emotional. Being shy makes it even more difficult. Waiting a half of a year to talk to someone about how you feel is a frightening step to take.
And when it turns to rejection, it is a harsh reality. Not only was he rejected by a longtime crush, but then he had to see her in the arms of another.
A Certifiably Mean Girl
He brought flowers and jewelry over for her birthday and she slammed the door in his face. But first, she took the bouquet of roses and shoved it back at him. The story gets even meaner.
In response to a comment in this thread, he says that the vicious rejection of the gifts was like nothing after the girl went around to all his friends, and other people he knew, telling what happened and making fun of him. Public humiliation sucks.
Priorities
For all we know, she is still nibbling on that cookie, slowly munching away at each bite, savoring each morsel. It seems apparent that she was enjoying that cookie more than a dance.
Was it a chocolate chip cookie? With nuts or without? Come to think of it, maybe the dance can wait.
“M” Is for Mean
There are a lot of words that begin with the letter “K.” But not too many gross examples, unless you hate kale or ketchup. In this case, however, she chose the name of the kid who was crushing on her and sitting right in front of her.
And, to make matters worse, she won the round. Board games are supposed to be fun. Not this time.
The Rejections Poured In
One rejection is enough. But she piled up five rejections in a row. There is a lot of work that goes into applying for post-doctorate fellowships and she had two of them denied in one week.
It’s one ding after another to a person’s self-confidence. Hopefully, this share helped her.
We Know Where This Is Heading
It is a familiar story. One person reveals their feelings, the other says he or she is not ready for a relationship, but then, boom. That person starts a relationship with someone else.
It seems like this happens a lot. In this case, it was a sad end to a five-year friendship. We wonder if they stayed friends.
Not Interested
He could have simply stated, “Not interested,” but instead, he chose to tell her that her work is rather boring. And if he had left it at boring, it would have been easier to take than what he did have to say.
Perhaps he felt he was doing her a favor with that critique, and maybe he was. She’s a novelist now, and rejections such as those are far behind.
Brutally Honest
At least she was honest. But she was also rude, mean, and bereft of decorum. Not to mention, selfish, hateful, and greedy. It’s hard to imagine a person acting so inappropriately who is not a TV character bad girl.
And this poor guy... He thought he was going on a date with a girl. It’s fair to say, he could do much better!
Ethnics Need Not Apply
Isn’t this what we suspect to see behind closed doors in the modeling world? People are paid to be beautiful, and the people who are hiring will make those decisions.
Granted, they complimented her looks generously. But it is still shocking and terrible to see such kind of blatant superficial judgment utterly unapologetically.
This Is One Way to Find Out He Has a Girlfriend
It’s crushing, demoralizing, and heartbreaking. She had been dating him for a couple of years before he got her pregnant.
It’s a devastating time in one’s life to learn someone is not going to support you.
Like a Sister
Eden Dranger has a prominent Twitter presence and actually prompted others to share their own rejection stories on Twitter. She went first, of course. Dranger said she was dating a guy she had her eye on.
But right when she thought maybe they might be a pair, he announced to his family at Thanksgiving that he would love to have a sister just like her. That’s harsh. Her word.
Not the Words He Wanted to Hear
Saying “I love you” is a milestone in any relationship. In this case, it was a roadblock. This man’s partner was not ready to hear his amorous profession and rejected him for lacking masculinity.
It’s funny that masculinity was never a problem until those three words. Later in the tweet conversation, he admits he said those words too soon. You can’t hurry love!
Isn’t It Ironic?
He shared his rejection on Twitter. He even used the #ShareYourRejections hashtag to talk about how Twitter revoked their decision to hire him, but not before he told everyone he knew about the great news.
The social media giant crushed his dream and left him humiliated in front of friends and family. It was a brutal rejection. If only it were possible to block and unfollow Twitter itself!
They Bonded Over “Lord of the Rings”
“LOTR” brought them together and tore them apart. Her crush decided she was a poser when it came out that she had not read J.R.R. Tolkien’s first, and notoriously archaic, book.
It was a severe rejection. One question. Does that dude really expect to find someone who likes him and has read “Silmarillion?”
Cruel
“We hope you made other plans.” Seriously? Was that really necessary? How could an institution like Johns Hopkins send out a rejection letter that says untalented writers need not apply? Further down in the Twitter feed, she said that she no longer has the missive because she “burned it in a fit of rage.”
Nevertheless, she did find out that this is what happens when graduate students are commissioned by admissions.
A Certain Shade of Brown
Clearly, she is not his “Brown-Eyed Girl,” sha-la-la-la-la-la. But his comment about the shade of brown of her eye color is savage and over-the-line. She took the rejection in stride.
“Melted chocolate” is much preferable. She will define her own facial features, thank you very much.
We Regret to Inform You
What are the chances that someone receives a rejection letter from the graduate school of their dreams on their birthday? It is really bad luck and even worse timing.
But this story has a happy ending. She found another school and has already completed her master’s!