disbelieve

American

[dis-bi-leev] / ˌdɪs bɪˈliv /

verb (used with object)

disbelieved, disbelieving

to have no belief in; refuse or reject belief in.

to disbelieve reports of UFO sightings.

verb (used without object)

disbelieved, disbelieving

to refuse or reject belief; have no belief.

disbelieve British

/ ˌdɪsbɪˈliːv /

verb

(tr) to reject as false or lying; refuse to accept as true or truthful
to have no faith (in)

disbelieve in God

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

disbeliever noun
disbelieving adjective
disbelievingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of disbelieve

First recorded in 1635–45; dis- ¹ + believe

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.

The other disbelieving intellectuals continued to write and publish but seemed to make less news by their pronouncements.

From The Wall Street Journal

"That you can drop a person in the sea with a life jacket in a war zone was something people automatically chose to disbelieve," Mr Gonsalves said.

From BBC

From across the coffee table, their eyes widened, and their mouths skewed into disbelieving shapes.

From Los Angeles Times

He said he believed the boy was genuinely concerned about the knife, and agreed he had "no reason to disbelieve him".

From BBC

"Jurors may disbelieve one victim, but it's really hard for them to disbelieve many," he explained.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023