rebuttal
Americannoun
-
rebuttals
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rebuttal
Explanation
When two people debate, one of them makes an argument, and the other follows with a rebuttal, which, plainly put, is the "No, you're wrong, and this is why" argument. We often associate rebuttals with arguments made in the courtroom or public debates that occur around election time, but the word can really apply to any situation in which an argument is put forth and someone disagrees and explains why. Sports fans, for instance, like to argue about the likely winner of an upcoming game, and when you make a case for why your friend is wrong, you are offering a rebuttal of his argument.
Vocabulary lists containing rebuttal
Argumentative Writing
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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 1
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Rhetoric
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The palace issued a rebuttal to the book: “The pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
“It weakens the ‘no low-band’ rebuttal management teams have leaned on,” Maral wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
In the same thread, though, came the rebuttal: there were good ghost kitchens.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
Whatever he said next was a rebuttal to a case somebody else had opened without telling him, using words he’d tried to erase.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
Etchmiadzin Cathedral still stands today, an impressive rebuttal to the notion that the period following the fall of Rome meant the temporary end of civilisation.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
I can imagine diehard Green Lantern fans firing up their rebuttals as they read this.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
After critics blamed lobbyists for Slater’s ouster, Davis posted several rebuttals External link on X.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
If it is accepted, the Surface Transportation Board will review public comment and rebuttals before making a final decision sometime in 2026 or 2027.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
They could clearly hear his ideas, and he was surrounded by other young people on all sides of the political landscape - an environment that often produced explosive viral videos of his exchanges and rebuttals.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2025
Given these convincing rebuttals, why have the majority of researchers nonetheless become High Counters?
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
