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debunk

verb
de·​bunk | \ (ˌ)dē-ˈbəŋk How to pronounce debunk (audio) \
debunked; debunking; debunks

Definition of debunk

transitive verb

: to expose the sham (see sham entry 1 sense 2) or falseness of debunk a legend
Other Words from debunk Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about debunk

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Other Words from debunk

debunker noun

Did You Know?

If you guessed that "debunk" has something to do with bunk, meaning "nonsense," you're correct. We started using "bunk" at the beginning of the 20th century. (It derives from a remark made by a Buncombe county, N.C., congressman.) A little less than 25 years later, "debunk" was first used in print for the act of taking the "bunk" out of something. There are plenty of synonyms for "debunk," including "disprove," "rebut," "refute," and the somewhat rarer "confute." Even "falsify" can mean "prove something false," in addition to "make something false." "Debunk" itself often suggests that something is not merely untrue, but also a sham; one can simply disprove a myth, but if it is "debunked," the implication is that it was a grossly exaggerated or foolish claim.

Examples of debunk in a Sentence

The article debunks the notion that life exists on Mars. The results of the study debunk his theory.

Recent Examples on the Web

 Snopes, however, was not content with performing its vital public service of debunking crazy rumors and easing childhood fears. — David French, National Review, "Hands Off the Babylon Bee," 30 July 2019 Most of the rest of the Republican questions during about seven hours of hearings involved efforts to air conspiracy theories, several of which have been thoroughly debunked over the past two years. — Los Angeles Times, "Impeachment, always a longshot, fades in wake of Mueller hearing," 26 July 2019 Not only is this fictitious illness absent from reputable medical texts, periodicals, and websites, it's been debunked by prominent doctors. — Christina Oehler, Health.com, "Is Blue Waffle Disease Real? Here’s What a Gynecologist Says," 23 July 2019 Having a publicly available list of funding sources could also help researchers to debunk false accusations. — Tom Chivers, Scientific American, "Does psychology have a conflict-of-interest problem?," 20 July 2019 And while numerous studies have debunked claims that measles vaccinations cause autism, widespread fear persists. — Rob Picheta, CNN, "German government backs mandatory vaccinations for all schoolchildren," 17 July 2019 The opponents even claimed that the wolves were in fact coyotes, until a study by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in April debunked that assertion. — Darryl Fears, The Denver Post, "Killing wolves was supposed to solve a problem but created issue with coyotes," 3 June 2019 Not complete sense; most of the more popular hoax theories have been debunked repeatedly already. — Eric Spitznagel, Popular Mechanics, "Don't Stop Denying," 19 July 2019 At least one rumor was debunked by the Force for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment, a local coalition of nonprofits and immigration advocates that track ICE activity. — Obed Manuel, Dallas News, "Are ICE raids on the rise? Here's what a top Mexican official says," 17 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'debunk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of debunk

1923, in the meaning defined above

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More Definitions for debunk

debunk

verb
How to pronounce debunk (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of debunk

: to show that something (such as a belief or theory) is not true : to show the falseness of (a story, idea, statement, etc.)

See the full definition for debunk in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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