disabuse
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disabusesimple
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disabusessimple
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have disabusedperfect
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has disabusedperfect
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am disabusingprogressive
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are disabusingprogressive
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is disabusingprogressive
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have been disabusingperfect progressive
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has been disabusingperfect progressive
Past
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disabusedsimple
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had disabusedperfect
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was disabusingprogressive
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were disabusingprogressive
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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
The movie’s Australian-born director, Justin Kurzel, has long had a thing for bleakness, and his new movie won’t disabuse you of that characterization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
Broussard tried to disabuse me of this notion.
From Slate ● May 11, 2024
Blanca tried to disabuse him of his error, explaining that neither she nor her work contained a drop of Indian blood, but the language barrier prevented him from understanding her point of view.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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
Blood-soaked and candlelit, Michael Mohan’s “Immaculate” disabuses the notion that any conception is ever without sin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
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
Biography, at its most useful, disabuses us from myth, but “Churchill” has no such ambitions.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 1, 2017
Closer inspections, when its temporary nature is made plain, disabuses this idea entirely.
From The Cathedrals of Southern France by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
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
And viewers were disabused of any notion that the station might approach the interview with minimally journalistic standards pretty much instantly.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2024
Now that they've been disabused of that assumption, due to the over 1,000 arrests, the target has shifted from the powerful federal government to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023
He’d ridden into their cities mounted on a spectral, after all, and most of them assumed he was from Weep—at least, until Thyon Nero disabused them of that notion.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
"It's definitely not disabusing these women of any thoughts they have about men and male behaviour."
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
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
Part of Guisados’ mission is educating consumers that there’s more to Mexican food than carne asada, he said, as well as disabusing diners of the notion that tacos should always be cheap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 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.
