refutation
Americannoun
noun
-
the act or process of refuting
-
something that refutes; disproof
Other Word Forms
- nonrefutal noun
- nonrefutation noun
Etymology
Origin of refutation
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin refūtātiōn-, stem of refūtātiō, from refūtāt(us) “checked, rebutted” (past participle of refūtāre “to check, suppress, refute, rebut”; see refute) + -iō -ion
Explanation
A refutation proves that something is false. Refutations pop up often in law debates and philosophical arguments. While a validation tells you something is true, a refutation does the opposite: it says or proves that something is untrue, refuting the claim. In court, a witness might offer a refutation of a suspect's alibi to show he's lying. If someone calls you a liar, you probably should give them a refutation — make the case that you're a person who tells the truth.
Vocabulary lists containing refutation
Introducing Rhetoric: Using the "Available Means" (Chapter 1)
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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Analyzing Arguments: From Reading to Writing (Chapter 3)
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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.
Index funds add marginal exposure to stocks as they make relative gains, a seeming refutation of the age-old maxim to buy low, sell high.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Every single refutation of their conspiracy theory just proves that the conspiracy goes even further and deeper than they thought.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 10, 2025
He also coauthored a detailed refutation of the theory that the Taurid swarm caused a global climate disaster 12,900 years ago.
From Science Daily • Oct. 31, 2025
Pitts still sees the hat as a kind of refutation of tribalism—something that seems worth striving for but harder to manifest with each passing election.
From Slate • Dec. 18, 2024
This view, that the agglomerate of earth and water was not a perfect sphere, was universally accepted in the later Middle Ages, and the new cosmography required its refutation.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
