Synonyms

disconfirm

American

[dis-kuhn-furm] / ˌdɪs kənˈfɜrm /

verb (used with object)

to prove to be invalid.

disconfirm British

/ ˌdɪskənˈfɜːm /

verb

(tr) (of a fact or argument) to suggest that a hypothesis is wrong or ill-formulated

"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

disconfirmation noun

Etymology

Origin of disconfirm

First recorded in 1935–40; dis- ¹ + confirm

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.

If Burrell was seen on the video, it could “only disconfirm” investigators’ theory that he was the killer, the panel wrote.

From Seattle Times

“We can make observations which will be useful to either confirm or disconfirm the allegations.”

From Reuters

The psychology underlying the Fallacy of Excluded Exceptions is confirmation bias, where once one commits to a belief, the tendency is to look for and find only confirming examples while ignoring those that disconfirm.

From Scientific American

I want to think about it before I confirm it or disconfirm it, but there’s something to that.

From Salon

In an open letter to WHO, a group of U.S. physicians have decried “WHO’s failure to confirm or disconfirm the findings of Sudanese labs tests in Geneva, using stool samples appropriately transferred from Sudan.”

From Washington Post

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