Refute
verb
To say or show something is not correct or true.
He refuted the allegations that he was guilty.
Often appears as...
- refute a claim
- refute allegations
verb
To argue against a statement or someone’s belief.
She refuted his argument by providing clear facts.
Often appears as...
- refute a theory
- refute an argument
Usage tips
Academic
verb
To say or show something is not correct or true.
He refuted the allegations that he was guilty.
Often appears as...
- refute a claim
- refute allegations
verb
To argue against a statement or someone’s belief.
She refuted his argument by providing clear facts.
Often appears as...
- refute a theory
- refute an argument
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Strong Opposition
Used when you need to strongly oppose a statement or idea, often with evidence.
The lawyer refuted the witness's testimony with new evidence.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Denial
'Refute' goes beyond just denying; it involves debunking the other side.
Politicians often refute their opponents' claims during debates.
Pro Tip 3/3Evidence Required
It implies providing proof or reasoning against something asserted.
Scientists refuted the outdated theory with new research findings.
Pro Tip 1/3Strong Opposition
Used when you need to strongly oppose a statement or idea, often with evidence.
The lawyer refuted the witness's testimony with new evidence.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Denial
'Refute' goes beyond just denying; it involves debunking the other side.
Politicians often refute their opponents' claims during debates.
Pro Tip 3/3Evidence Required
It implies providing proof or reasoning against something asserted.
Scientists refuted the outdated theory with new research findings.
Pro Tip 1/3Strong Opposition
Used when you need to strongly oppose a statement or idea, often with evidence.
The lawyer refuted the witness's testimony with new evidence.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Denial
'Refute' goes beyond just denying; it involves debunking the other side.
Politicians often refute their opponents' claims during debates.
Pro Tip 3/3Evidence Required
It implies providing proof or reasoning against something asserted.
Scientists refuted the outdated theory with new research findings.
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Video examples
John Searle: Our shared...
I mean, you have patients that actually suffer pains, and you try to get an objective science of that. Okay, I promised to refute all these guys, and I don't have an awful lot of time left, but let me refute a couple more of them. I said that behaviorism ought to be one of the great embarrassments of our intellectual culture,
Video examples
Would you opt for a life...
Life's natural ups and downs will just be replaced with an endless series of ups. Sounds great, right? It may seem like a tempting offer, but perhaps it's not as ideal as it sounds. The experiment was actually designed to refute a philosophical notion called hedonism. According to hedonists,
Video examples
Militant atheism PIPE...
The arguments of so-called ID theorists are the same old arguments that had been refuted again and again, since Darwin down to the present day. There is an effective evolution lobby coordinating the fight on behalf of science, and I try to do all I can to help them,
Video examples
How to choose your news...
try to verify news before spreading it. While social media has enabled the truth to reach us faster, it's also allowed rumors to spread before they can be verified and falsehoods to survive long after they've been refuted. So, before you share that unbelievable
Video examples
David Deutsch: A new way...
points in a constant direction. And the tilt also explains the sun's angle of elevation at different times of year, and predicts that the seasons will be out of phase in the two hemispheres. If they'd been observed in phase, the theory would have been refuted.
Video examples
The most groundbreaking...
son of a goldsmith, he was a sickly kid whose school chums died of plague. He survived to cut up corpses as an anatomist, studying organs shared across species. He found a duct in animal skulls that sends saliva to the mouth. He refuted Descartes' idea
Video examples
Amazing Photo Wins...
take the argument that somehow the proliferation of cameras attached the cellphones is somehow lowering the standards I think is totally refuted we are communicating visually much more so than we ever have before and I think that's a good thing
Video examples
Brian Cox: What went...
and continue with our quest to find out what the building blocks of the universe are. Now of course, in a way those accidents reignite the debate about the value of science and engineering at the edge. It's easy to refute.
Video examples
The building of...
refute your idea at any stage of construction so the process was slow meticulous and cautious and Filippo had to he had to he had to fend off challenge after challenge throughout construction because people claimed that
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 182 PIPE...
energy enabled to communicate I mean they've done some some studies some people have refuted them some people have agreed with them where they a Japanese scientist took took rice or he took water for example and he said
Video examples
John Searle: Our shared...
I mean, you have patients that actually suffer pains, and you try to get an objective science of that. Okay, I promised to refute all these guys, and I don't have an awful lot of time left, but let me refute a couple more of them. I said that behaviorism ought to be one of the great embarrassments of our intellectual culture,
Video examples
Would you opt for a life...
Life's natural ups and downs will just be replaced with an endless series of ups. Sounds great, right? It may seem like a tempting offer, but perhaps it's not as ideal as it sounds. The experiment was actually designed to refute a philosophical notion called hedonism. According to hedonists,
Video examples
Militant atheism PIPE...
The arguments of so-called ID theorists are the same old arguments that had been refuted again and again, since Darwin down to the present day. There is an effective evolution lobby coordinating the fight on behalf of science, and I try to do all I can to help them,
Video examples
How to choose your news...
try to verify news before spreading it. While social media has enabled the truth to reach us faster, it's also allowed rumors to spread before they can be verified and falsehoods to survive long after they've been refuted. So, before you share that unbelievable
Video examples
David Deutsch: A new way...
points in a constant direction. And the tilt also explains the sun's angle of elevation at different times of year, and predicts that the seasons will be out of phase in the two hemispheres. If they'd been observed in phase, the theory would have been refuted.
Video examples
The most groundbreaking...
son of a goldsmith, he was a sickly kid whose school chums died of plague. He survived to cut up corpses as an anatomist, studying organs shared across species. He found a duct in animal skulls that sends saliva to the mouth. He refuted Descartes' idea
Video examples
Amazing Photo Wins...
take the argument that somehow the proliferation of cameras attached the cellphones is somehow lowering the standards I think is totally refuted we are communicating visually much more so than we ever have before and I think that's a good thing
Video examples
Brian Cox: What went...
and continue with our quest to find out what the building blocks of the universe are. Now of course, in a way those accidents reignite the debate about the value of science and engineering at the edge. It's easy to refute.
Video examples
The building of...
refute your idea at any stage of construction so the process was slow meticulous and cautious and Filippo had to he had to he had to fend off challenge after challenge throughout construction because people claimed that
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 182 PIPE...
energy enabled to communicate I mean they've done some some studies some people have refuted them some people have agreed with them where they a Japanese scientist took took rice or he took water for example and he said
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
John Hurt
British Actor
Religious people know deep down that that is the most vulnerable area of their lives, and when others question it, they are liable to hit out and feel insulted. You know it is absolutely without proof, yet people still commit themselves totally to this belief. They cannot refute it because it is so central to their lives.
Quote examples
Benjamin Franklin
American Politician
I have never entered into any controversy in defense of my philosophical opinions; I leave them to take their chance in the world. If they are right, truth and experience will support them; if wrong, they ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one's temper and disturb one's quiet.
Quote examples
Lionel Shriver
American Journalist
Conservative supporters might either have the courage of their convictions or, if truly ashamed, revise them, but they should at least refute the proposition that defending your own interests is only acceptable if you're broke.
Quote examples
A'Lelia Bundles
American Journalist
Every ethnic group has a mythology... Until 'Roots'... there was nothing in the popular culture to refute the paragraph in elementary school history class that said, 'Slaves picked the cotton, were happy and life wasn't so bad.
Quote examples
Hypatia
Greek Philosopher
In fact men will fight for a superstition quite as quickly as for a living truth - often more so, since a superstition is so intangible you cannot get at it to refute it, but truth is a point of view, and so is changeable.
Quote examples
Beeban Kidron
English Director
Our politicians don't say anything anymore: they just refute and assert.
Quote examples
Nirmala Sitharaman
Indian Politician
The government doesn't go about refuting everything that floats around.
Quote examples
Josh Billings
American Comedian
Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.
Quote examples
Wilhelm Steinitz
American Celebrity
A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it.
Quote examples
William Paley
English Theologian
Who can refute a sneer?
Quote examples
John Hurt
British Actor
Religious people know deep down that that is the most vulnerable area of their lives, and when others question it, they are liable to hit out and feel insulted. You know it is absolutely without proof, yet people still commit themselves totally to this belief. They cannot refute it because it is so central to their lives.
Quote examples
Benjamin Franklin
American Politician
I have never entered into any controversy in defense of my philosophical opinions; I leave them to take their chance in the world. If they are right, truth and experience will support them; if wrong, they ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one's temper and disturb one's quiet.
Quote examples
Lionel Shriver
American Journalist
Conservative supporters might either have the courage of their convictions or, if truly ashamed, revise them, but they should at least refute the proposition that defending your own interests is only acceptable if you're broke.
Quote examples
A'Lelia Bundles
American Journalist
Every ethnic group has a mythology... Until 'Roots'... there was nothing in the popular culture to refute the paragraph in elementary school history class that said, 'Slaves picked the cotton, were happy and life wasn't so bad.
Quote examples
Hypatia
Greek Philosopher
In fact men will fight for a superstition quite as quickly as for a living truth - often more so, since a superstition is so intangible you cannot get at it to refute it, but truth is a point of view, and so is changeable.
Quote examples
Beeban Kidron
English Director
Our politicians don't say anything anymore: they just refute and assert.
Quote examples
Nirmala Sitharaman
Indian Politician
The government doesn't go about refuting everything that floats around.
Quote examples
Josh Billings
American Comedian
Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.
Quote examples
Wilhelm Steinitz
American Celebrity
A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it.
Quote examples
William Paley
English Theologian
Who can refute a sneer?
Example 1 of 10
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