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View synonyms for refute

refute

[ ri-fyoot ]

verb (used with object)

, re·fut·ed, re·fut·ing.
  1. to prove to be false or erroneous, as an opinion or charge.

    Synonyms: confute, rebut, disprove

  2. to prove (a person) to be in error.

    Synonyms: confute



refute

/ rɪˈfjuː-; rɪˈfjuːt; ˈrɛfjʊtəbəl; ˌrɛfjʊtəˈbɪlɪtɪ; rɪˌfjuː- /

verb

  1. tr to prove (a statement, theory, charge, etc) of (a person) to be false or incorrect; disprove
  2. to deny (a claim, charge, allegation, etc)
“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


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Usage

The use of refute to mean deny is thought by many people to be incorrect
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Derived Forms

  • refutability, noun
  • refutable, adjective
  • ˈrefutably, adverb
  • reˈfuter, noun
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Other Words From

  • re·fut·a·ble [ri-, fyoo, -t, uh, -b, uh, l, ref, -y, uh, -t, uh, -], adjective
  • re·fut·er noun
  • self-re·fut·ed adjective
  • self-re·fut·ing adjective
  • un·re·fut·ed adjective
  • un·re·fut·ing adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of refute1

First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin refūtāre “to check, suppress, refute, rebut,” equivalent to re- re- + -fūtāre presumably, “to beat” (attested only with the prefixes con- and re-; confute )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of refute1

C16: from Latin refūtāre to rebut
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Example Sentences

Sometimes it means hearing, and really thinking about, another opinion more than just thinking about how to refute what they said or just giving your own.

From Fortune

On September 9, three days after the Atabula accusations were published, Sekine told Vanity Fair France that he planned to refute the allegations.

From Eater

The electric-truck startup said allegations made by Hindenburg Research are false but did not provide evidence to refute specific claims in the report.

From Fortune

Following the recent reporting, Barrios released a statement dismissing both investigations, which was then refuted by both the district attorney’s office and the chairman of the San Diego Democratic Party.

The modern clairvoyant prefers only to “see” things that cannot be easily refuted by disbelieving skeptics.

And no one is better equipped to refute this false equivalence than Mack herself.

Szarkowski responded: “The claim is impossible to refute, and in fact not easy to understand.”

This would seem to refute the new report that the captain alone would have been able to disable all the systems.

But this is all ‘a work in progress’… [that] we are trying to confirm or refute.

Which is why we need the most up-to-date science—and for government entities to refute “abortion-inducing” misnomers.

And Diotti, remembering Mildreds words, could not refute the old mans statements.

I shall make a series of statements, and give you opportunity to refute them either in part or in toto.

But it is easy to refute all these useless reasonings and to show the falsity of all these evidences.

(This fact alone is sufficient to refute the opinion that confuses time with that which is movable).

This is the great point which the champions of the "bogey" theory are most anxious to refute.

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