Deny the brute's reformed! (5)

I believe the answer is:

rebut

'deny' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the brute's reformed' is the wordplay.
'reformed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'brute' with letters rearranged gives 'REBUT'.

(Other definitions for rebut that I've seen before include "Prove to be false or incorrect" , "Check" , "Tuber (anag.)" , "Disprove an accusation" , "show as bad" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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