refutation
noun
Simple meaning
The speech act of answering an attack on your assertions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rehfyootayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɛfjuˈteɪʃən
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.
noun
proscribed
The speech act of answering an attack on your assertions
“His refutation of the charges was short and persuasive.”
proscribed
A vocal answer to an attack on one's assertions.
An act of refuting or disproving; the disproving of an argument, opinion, testimony, doctrine or theory by argument or countervailing proof; evidence of falseness.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The speech act of answering an attack on your assertions
Used this way, refutation is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
“His refutation of the charges was short and persuasive.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “refutation of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: refutation of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use refutation
- “His refutation of the charges was short and persuasive.”noun
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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
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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.