disprove
verb
Simple meaning
To prove to be false or erroneous.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihsproovSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪspˈɹuv
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 prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute.
“The physicist disproved his colleagues' theories.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: To prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute.
Used this way, disprove is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The physicist disproved his colleagues' theories.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- confute , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use disprove
- “The physicist disproved his colleagues' theories.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to prove to be false or erroneous
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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.