verb
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(tr) to prove (a statement, theory, charge, etc) of (a person) to be false or incorrect; disprove
-
to deny (a claim, charge, allegation, etc)
Usage
The use of refute to mean deny is thought by many people to be incorrect
Other Word Forms
- refutability noun
- refutable adjective
- refutably adverb
- refuter noun
- self-refuted adjective
- self-refuting adjective
- unrefuted adjective
- unrefuting adjective
Etymology
Origin of refute
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin refūtāre “to check, suppress, refute, rebut,” equivalent to re- re- + -fūtāre presumably, “to beat” (attested only with the prefixes con- and re-; confute )
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.
It feels like he doesn’t deserve to hear me refute him.
From Literature
He wanted to refute the idea that in the space of a day, the pesky badger had found a way to burrow into his heart.
From Literature
Taiwanese authorities have refuted the rumours, saying there are sufficient LNG reserves for March and April.
From Barron's
Art Tinoco, the Riverside County registrar of voters, has refuted that number — saying it was based on a misunderstanding of raw data that had not been fully processed.
From Los Angeles Times
And if her goofier choices were unanimously refuted as artistic inferiority, we’d never get the chance to see her bounce from “Babygirl” to “Holland” to playing an Italian forensic pathologist in “Scarpetta.”
From Salon
Definitions 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.
