debunk — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To discredit, or expose to ridicule the falsehood or the exaggerated claims of something; to refute.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   The explosion story was thoroughly debunked on National Public Radio in November 1999.

   debunk a theory

   More examples (5)

   We began to debunk, with the aid of such Bowdlerisations of Freud as now trickled though, human motive, and learned to diagnose our mental discomforts as repressions and inhibitions—an accomplishment which gave me a good deal of relief.

   This is what I mean by saying that the pseudoskeptics aren't actually skeptics in a genuine sense; they're believers in some other system, out to attack and debunk what they don't believe in while trying to appear open minded and scientific, even though they're not.

   I am reading Nick Sousanis’ PhD dissertation-as-a-comic Unflattening. It debunks the primacy of word over image in Western culture and suggests that the two are equal partners in meaning-making.

   For many of the Capitol rioters and others who believe Mr. Trump won, it was not a large leap to “Stop the Steal” from a pathway of conspiratorial steppingstones that included the “Pizzagate” claim of 2016 that Democrats were running a child sex ring in the back of a popular Washington pizza parlor, the debunked allegation that a low-level Democratic National Committee aide was murdered for leaking Hillary Clinton’s emails and many more.

   Another of my favourite themes has been debunking promises of new technology. Over the years, I have enjoyed watching the lack of progress on driverless cars, drone deliveries, hyperloop, and maglev.

Noun

1. A debunking; the act by which something is debunked.

   Usage

   • Informal

Verb

1. expose while ridiculing; especially of pretentious or false claims and ideas

   Synonyms

   expose

   Broader terms

   ridiculeroastguyblackguardlaugh atjest atribpoke funmake fun of

   Examples

   The physicist debunked the psychic's claims