disabuse
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disabuses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disabused,
past participle, past
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disabusing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disabusesimple
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disabusessimple
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have disabusedperfect
-
has disabusedperfect
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am disabusingprogressive
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are disabusingprogressive
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is disabusingprogressive
-
have been disabusingperfect progressive
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has been disabusingperfect progressive
Past
-
disabusedsimple
-
had disabusedperfect
-
was disabusingprogressive
-
were disabusingprogressive
-
had been disabusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disabuse
From the French word désabuser, dating back to 1605–15. See dis- 1, abuse
Explanation
Disabuse means to free someone of a belief that is not true. Many teachers of health find that when they teach, they spend as much energy disabusing kids of false beliefs as they do giving them the facts. Disabuse is often connected to the word notion or idea. In singing lessons, you must disabuse young singers of the idea that they can sing better by singing louder. In the first year of college, many people are disabused of the notion that their experiences are universal — by meeting so many people who have had different experiences or come from different backgrounds.
Vocabulary lists containing disabuse
Power Prefix: dis-
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Grade 12, List 5
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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:
Investors are seeking certainty from the experts, and rather than disabuse them of those mistaken hopes, the pros often reinforce them.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Soon enough, Paine’s words and Washington’s generalship would disabuse the nonchalant confidence of the British.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
We have to disabuse ourselves of that idea.
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2025
“This time of year traditionally has not been fire season but now, we disabuse any notion that there is a season, it’s year-round in the state of California,” he said on social media.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2025
There was nothing that one could do to disabuse them of this notion.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Papic disabuses one common notion the U.S. is a net exporter of crude, saying it’s a net exporter of refined products, which is a very different thing.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
An aspiring standup comedian, he believes his mission is to bring laughter to the world, until life disabuses him of that notion.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 28, 2019
Bucar disabuses readers of any preconceived ideas that women who adhere to an aesthetic of modesty are unfashionable or frumpy.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 23, 2017
Calmer, simpler, less frenetic, the staging touchingly has Rosalind lie on the ground across Orlando’s legs as she disabuses him of the dewy-eyed notion that heartache is fatal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2016
Closer inspections, when its temporary nature is made plain, disabuses this idea entirely.
From The Cathedrals of Southern France by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield
If he had hoped for that to be sufficient to shore up his authority he was to be swiftly disabused.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The Gulf states, we’re told, have been disabused of trusting the U.S., which has its own interests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
But he was quickly disabused of any hope that his prophesies of financial doom would sway opponents.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
If anyone doubted that the Levys would be the only 2020 comedy winners onstage Sunday, they were eventually disabused of the notion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2024
I disabused him of this notion, and he relented, giving me all that I had sought.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
"It's definitely not disabusing these women of any thoughts they have about men and male behaviour."
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
Answering hard questions runs the risk of disabusing some voters of who they think or hope she is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2024
Hence, "Succession" continues HBO's prestige drama tradition of disabusing fans of all the notions they invested in all season long.
From Salon ● May 29, 2023
It seems to me that enlightenment means disabusing oneself of the notion that such a thing matters—at least to the degree that “society” says it does.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2021
Rhonda had led the pack in disabusing Citra of that delusion through eyeball rolls and exasperated exhales each time Citra took an imperfect step.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
