Another way of politely declining an invitation or saying no is to be tentative.

礼貌地拒绝邀请或拒绝的另一种方法是表现得犹豫不决。

She politely declined his proposal of marriage.

【proposal】她礼貌地拒绝了他的求婚。

The line of demarcation was so marked between information willingly supplied and politely declined that the latter ceased to stir resentment, except fitfully from Mallinson.

自愿提供的信息和礼貌地拒绝的信息之间的分界线是如此明显， 以至于后者不再激起怨恨， 除了偶尔来自马林森。

Although I really appreciated it, I usually politely declined because there was always an undercurrent of hoping that I might be converted, and I really don't like to disappoint people.

虽然我真的很感激，但我通常会礼貌地拒绝，因为我心里总有一股希望我能转变的暗流，而且我真的不喜欢让别人失望。