debunk

American  

[dih-buhngk] / dɪˈbʌŋk /

verb (used with object)

• debunks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• debunked,
  past participle,  past
• debunking
  present participle

1. to expose or excoriate (a claim, assertion, sentiment, etc.) as being pretentious, false, or exaggerated.

   to debunk advertising slogans.

   Synonyms:

   lampoon, ridicule, disparage

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debunk British  

/ diːˈbʌŋk /

verb

1. informal (tr) to expose the pretensions or falseness of, esp by ridicule

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• debunker
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• debunking
  present
• debunked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• debunk
  simple
• debunks
  simple
• have debunked
  perfect
• has debunked
  perfect
• am debunking
  progressive
• are debunking
  progressive
• is debunking
  progressive
• have been debunking
  perfect progressive
• has been debunking
  perfect progressive

Past

• debunked
  simple
• had debunked
  perfect
• was debunking
  progressive
• were debunking
  progressive
• had been debunking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will debunk
  simple
• will have debunked
  perfect
• will be debunking
  progressive
• will have been debunking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of debunk

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; de- + bunk ²

Explanation

When you debunk something you show it to be false. Many magicians, including Houdini and Penn and Teller, have worked to debunk the idea that magic is anything other than a very clever illusion. To debunk something is to prove it wrong. The idea that music education is frivolous and should be the first item cut from the budget is something that music teachers work hard to debunk — in fact, they've done it by proving that students perform better in schools with strong music programs. The verb debunk was first used by an American writer, William Woodward, in 1923, to mean "take the bunk out of something." Bunk means "nonsense."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

debunk debunks debunked debunking

No doubt the TikTok amateur detectives would’ve momentarily shifted from true crime to the Chaplin twins, trying their damnedest to debunk what only the sisters could truly understand.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

Civic experts are urging regular voters to help debunk misinformation about voting within their communities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

Engineers said they were able to debunk some "myths", including that bullets can ricochet off the curve in the ballistic plate.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Though easy to debunk, such theories persist as Artemis II comes decades after the previous lunar missions, events today's internet-savvy generation has little recollection of.

From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026

Thankfully the rest of the world assumed that the Irish were crazy, a theory that the Irish themselves did nothing to debunk.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

AFP's global network has produced more than 500 debunks of false information in multiple languages since the conflict began -- a rate never before seen in such a crisis.

From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026

“The film itself debunks any attempts to debunk it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

“The Colonel and the King” debunks some of the most stubborn myths about Parker, refuting the notion that Parker destroyed Elvis’ career by force-feeding awful material down his throat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025

Although this debunks the previous assumptions about protoplanetary disks, it also confirms earlier images from the mid-2000s from NASA’s Hubble Telescope.

From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024

The study debunks myths about Cockney rhyming slang being born out of criminal activity, and highlights how it has historically thrived on multicultural influences, adapting with each wave of newcomers.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2024

"The claim that working in partnership with Manchester City's owners has not been a good deal for the council or the city has been debunked repeatedly," the authority said.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Over the years, Bullock and Randall debunked rumors about their engagement and marriage numerous times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

And sure enough, that scholarship came to the court, and the court cited it, and most of it has been debunked and disproven, but it’s the law anyway.

From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026

Any association between these vaccines and autism has been thoroughly debunked, and all the major medical and scientific associations immediately issued statements that they would not follow these recommendations.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026

Every medium so studied has been debunked, if not in the sessions, then by materials, photos, or interviews after the fact.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The pulmonologist Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria penned a column in the Washington Post last week debunking wellness claims about nicotine and underscoring its risks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Also, it was debunking the lie that just because we’re all in the music business, we all like each other.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

If every event is met with automatic suspicion and conspiracy theory, we’ll spend all our time debunking nonsense, and nothing will ever get better.

From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2026

Internet users are increasingly turning to chatbots to verify images in real time, but the tools often fail, raising questions about their visual debunking capabilities.

From Barron's ● Dec. 16, 2025

Its place in the canons of poetics and rhetoric, moreover, has largely survived the personal debunking of its author.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Related Words

• demystify
• disparage
• mock
• puncture