Other Word Forms
- confutative adjective
- unconfutative adjective
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; 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
It is, however, of great service to point them out; for the doctrine of idols bears the same relation to the interpretation of nature as that of the confutation of sophisms does to common logic.
From Manhood of Humanity. by Korzybski, Alfred
This short and easy confutation overlooks the fact, that in denying matter, Berkeley did not deny any thing to which our senses bear witness, and therefore can not be answered by any appeal to them.
From A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive by Mill, John Stuart
The first part of the eight liberall science: Entituled, Ars adulandi, the art of Flattery, with the confutation thereof, both very pleasant and profitable, deuised and compiled by Vlpian Fulwell.
From Catalogue of the Books Presented by Edward Capell to the Library of Trinity College in Cambridge by Greg, W. W.
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 Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)
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.
