dispel
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To remove by proving them unjustified.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihspehlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪsˈpɛl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To remove (fears, doubts, objections etc.) by proving them unjustified.
Force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings
transitive
To drive away or cause to vanish by scattering.
noun
An act or instance of dispelling.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To remove (fears, doubts, objections etc.) by proving them unjustified.
Used this way, dispel is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to remove (fears or doubts
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.