Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of confutation
1425–75; late Middle English confutacioun (< Middle French ) < Latin confūtātiōn- (stem of confūtātiō ), equivalent to confūtāt ( us ) silenced (past participle of confūtāre; see confute, -ate 1) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A confutation is the act of refuting someone's point forcefully. Accused criminals must offer confutation if they hope to be found innocent. If you know the verb confute — which means to overwhelm through an argument — this noun will be a no-brainer: it refers to the act of confuting, or a statement that confutes. The meaning is not that far removed from refutation, with which confutation shares a Latin root. A confutation proves that another idea is false or nonsensical. People who argue for a living, like lawyers, are masters of confutation.
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.
Almost simultaneously Artist Thomas Gainsborough produced his famed Blue Boy, intentionally or not a complete confutation of haughty Artist Reynolds.
From Time Magazine Archive
One Simon Geddicus, a Lutheran divine, wrote a serious confutation of this libel upon the fair sex, in 1595, and promises the ladies an expectation of salvation on their good behaviour.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen
The author of "The Rights of Man" may therefore be a confutation of his own dictum: "An hereditary governor is as inconsistent as an hereditary author."
From The Life Of Thomas Paine, Vol. I. (of II) With A History of His Literary, Political and Religious Career in America France, and England; to which is added a Sketch of Paine by William Cobbett by Moncure Daniel Conway
The words italicized by us above illustrate the intrepid firmness of our author in staking the fortune of an opinion of his upon the risk of confutation by future fact.
From French Classics by William Cleaver Wilkinson
Other examples in abundance, in confutation of his assumption, could no doubt be furnished.
From The Woman Who Dared by Epes Sargent
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