Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To prove to be false or erroneous; overthrow by argument or proof: refute testimony.
- v. To deny the accuracy or truth of: refuted the results of the poll.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To disprove and overthrow by argument or countervailing proof; prove to be false or erroneous: as, to refute a doctrine or an accusation.
- To overcome in argument; prove to be in error: as, to refute a disputant.
- Synonyms Confute and Refute agree in representing a quick and thorough answer to assertions made by another. Confute applies to arguments, refute to both arguments and charges.
- n. See refuit.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To prove (something) to be false or incorrect.
- v. transitive To deny the truth or correctness of (something).
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To disprove and overthrow by argument, evidence, or countervailing proof; to prove to be false or erroneous; to confute
WordNet 3.0
- v. prove to be false or incorrect
- v. overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof
Etymologies
- From Latin refūtō (Wiktionary)
- Latin refūtāre; see bhau- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“**: I say “more standard” here even though her usage of refute is still non-standard.”
“But one point Matt made tonight that I'd like to hear someone refute is the stupidity of canceling public option as a way to get Republicans to vote for the bill.”
“My last word (I hope), is to once again refute your post at #115.”
“I take it by "rebut" you mean the legal sense of "refute" - but refute implies success i.e. that you have disproved my contention.”
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
“(You better look up the word refute – apparently, you don†™ t know the definition.)”
“For to refute is to contradict one and the same attribute-not merely the name, but the reality-and a name that is not merely synonymous but the same name-and to confute it from the propositions granted, necessarily, without including in the reckoning the original point to be proved, in the same respect and relation and manner and time in which it was asserted.”
“YOu didn't "refute" anything .... all you did was try to go on the personal attacks, other than you one point regarding the tax cuts but the fact is that the IRS stats do not support your argument.”
“I'd respond to your inaccuracies point by point, but they kind of refute themselves.”
“While she most likely meant "refute" or "repudiate," you will not find her innovative "refudiate" in an English dictionary.”
Forbes: The Conversation: Sarah Palin And The English Dictionary
“The word "refute" was one of the most misused in the English language even before Sarah Palin came along.”
The Guardian: Word of the day: Sarah Palin invents 'refudiate'
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘refute’.
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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POL - scandalous (single words only)
acolyte, archrival, backhander, backlash, baksheesh, bashing, boo, bribery, cadre, chicanery, clash, coercion and 256 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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PHIL - vocabulary of thinking
philosophy, Socratic, dialogue, philosopher, Athenian, philosophical, politic, Greek, method, death, ancient, believe and 243 more...
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Talk Talk
Words for Talking
( open list, randomness )squawk, gab, chatter, chitchat, blab, prattle, blather, discuss, hector, plead, cajole, harangue and 200 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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gre
municipal, whit, dissembler, berate, liberally, embellish, dissimilitude, histrionics, flamboyance, bombastic, bovine, calumny and 142 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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POL - scandalous (words and collocati...
Words and collocations associated with political scandal
blow the whistle, boo, cronyism and rigging, democratic deficit, denigrate, dirty linen, fiasco, finger pointing a..., graft, hidden account, hush money, illicit financing... and 578 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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EN - eloquence in public speaking
Key words from "The Training of a Public Speaker" by Grenville Kleiser (New York and London, 1920)
beget, imago, approbation, orator, peroration, Cicero, eloquence, elocution, rhetoric, premeditate, plead, Isocrates and 264 more...
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GRE Readings
sophistry, religious, venture, touching, slander, rotunda, singular, spurious, rhetoric, virtue, temper, tardy and 133 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Hit Parade GRE
Princeton Review words
abscond, aberrant, alacrity, anomaly, approbation, arduous, assuage, audacious, austere, axiomatic, canonical, capricious and 287 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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Words
My list of words.
veritable, facetious, nadir, quixotic, apropos, acquiesce, ostensible, insipid, egregious, inveterate, coax, adroit and 409 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for refute.
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