The phrase "as if to deny" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation where someone acts in a way that seems to contradict or reject a previous statement or belief.
Example: "He spoke with such confidence, as if to deny the doubts that lingered in the minds of his colleagues."
Alternatives: "as though to refute" or "as if to contradict".
She calls the boy Zero as if to deny him.
The government did the same, Mr Cameron points out, as if to deny that he allowed right-wing ideology to trump pragmatism.
She moved to the capital for her new job and, as if to deny the turn her life had taken, camped out in hotel rooms for three years.
In his written report to the court on this case, Leonard notes that the original video of the meeting between Deepak Kalpoe and Skeeters shows Deepak "shaking his head 'no' from side to side," as if to deny the accusations.
We even talked like Hemingway characters, though in travesty, as if to deny our discipleship: That is your bed, and it is a good bed, and you must make it and you must make it well.
In their breakthrough books, major writers of the women's movement - Betty Friedan, Kate Millett and Germaine Greer - barely mention Beauvoir, as if to deny the influence of a threatening mother figure.
No, the fault lay with the top corporate managers: it was their job, as capitalists, to deny such increases if they were not justified by productivity trends.
If it is regarded as unfair to deny individual 18-year olds justice, should it also not be regarded as equally unfair to deny individual elderly people health care without them being individually assessed?
"We betray our most noble past as well if we were to deny the possibility of movement, the possibility of progress, if we were to let cynicism consume us and fear overwhelm us," Obama said.
Clearly, consumers will revolt if evidence-based efforts are perceived as rationing or as a way to deny them needed treatment.
The draft deal also says member states should be able to use the "abuse of free movement rights" as a reason to deny a visa, if the couple "had the purpose of evading the application of national immigration rules".
