Dictionary

disprove en · VERB

Pronunciation

• dĭs-pro͞ovʹ
• audio Brisbane
• /dɪsˈpɹuːv/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio
• /dɪsˈpɹuv/ (General-American)
• /dɪsˈpɹʉːv/ (Australia)

Etymology

From Middle English disproven, dispreven, from Old French desprover, from des- + prover, equivalent to dis- + prove.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute.
   • disprove a hypothesis
   • disprove a theory
   • “The commission is not set up to disprove or to prove President Trump’s claim, nor is it just looking at the 2016 election. We’re looking at all forms of election irregularities, voter fraud, voter registration fraud, voter intimidation, suppression, and looking at the vulnerabilities of the various elections we have in each of the 50 states,” Kobach told “New Day” co-host Chris Cuomo. 2017 May 15, David Wright, “Kobach: ‘Election integrity’ panel ‘not set up to prove or to disprove’ Trump”, in CNN:
   • As it worked, the AI-based system found that fingerprints from different fingers of the same person shared strong similarities and was therefore able to tell when the fingerprints belonged to the same individual and when they didn’t, with an accuracy for a single pair peaking at 77% — seemingly disproving that each fingerprint is “unique.” 2024 January 12, Jacopo Prisco, “Are fingerprints unique? Not really, AI-based study finds”, in CNN:
   • While the incumbent Democrats in Michigan are vulnerable, the Trump-endorsed candidates have built their campaigns around the disproved claims of a rigged 2020 election – an issue that may not have much traction among swing voters. 2022 April 29, Rusty Hills, “Opinion: When will the GOP learn from Trump’s mistakes?”, in CNN:
   • Newly released audio disproves Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s claim on CNN that he was misquoted by The Atlantic about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 2023 August 22, Daniel Dale, “Fact check: Audio debunks Vivek Ramaswamy’s false claim that he was misquoted about 9/11”, in CNN:

Forms

Antonyms

prove

Deriveds

disprovability · undisproved · disprovement · disproval · disprovable · undisprovable · disprover

Synonyms

disconfirm

Translations (36)

la redarguō (to refute) · es refutar (to refute) · ang unsōþian (to refute) · tl pabulaanan (to refute) · fr réfuter (to refute) · fr infirmer (to refute) · it confutare (to refute) · fi osoittaa vääräksi (to refute) · cmn 駁斥 /驳斥 (to refute) · es rebatir (to refute) · el ανταποδεικνύω (to refute) · es desdecir (to refute) · bg оборвам (to refute) · pt refutar (to refute) · de widerlegen (to refute) · cs vyvrátit (to refute) · bg опровергавам (to refute) · ja 反駁する (to refute) · nl ontkrachten (to refute) · uk спросто́вувати (to refute) · la refellō (to refute) · fi kumota (to refute) · pt desmentir (to refute) · cy gwrthbrofi (to refute) · be абвярга́ць (to refute) · ru опрове́ргнуть (to refute) · sv vederlägga (to refute) · ar دَحَضَ (to refute) · uk спростува́ти (to refute) · sv motbevisa (to refute) · hu megcáfol (to refute) · ru опроверга́ть (to refute) · nl weerleggen (to refute) · es desmentir (to refute) · sh opovrgnuti (to refute) · be абве́ргнуць (to refute)