refuted; refuting
Examples of refute in a Sentence
But for every study that shows acid rain is damaging frogs, another one refutes it.
—
Emily Yoffe, New York Times Magazine, 13 Dec. 1992
And it violates the basic tenet of historical method: that the historian be alert to the negative instances that would refute his thesis and to alternative explanations that would be more plausible than his own.
—Gertrude Himmelfarb, The New History and the Old, 1987
It is not necessary to refute such an argument point by point …
—Denis Goulet, Center Magazine, May 1969
We refute these aspersions whether they come from our best friends or our worst foes.
—Sir Winston Churchill, address in House of Commons, 18 Jan. 1945,
in Nathan Aus, ed., Voices of History 1945–46, 1946
The lawyer refuted the testimony of the witness.
He refutes the notion that he's planning to retire soon.
She refuted the allegations against her.
Emily Yoffe, New York Times Magazine, 13 Dec. 1992
And it violates the basic tenet of historical method: that the historian be alert to the negative instances that would refute his thesis and to alternative explanations that would be more plausible than his own.
—Gertrude Himmelfarb, The New History and the Old, 1987
It is not necessary to refute such an argument point by point …
—Denis Goulet, Center Magazine, May 1969
We refute these aspersions whether they come from our best friends or our worst foes.
—Sir Winston Churchill, address in House of Commons, 18 Jan. 1945,
in Nathan Aus, ed., Voices of History 1945–46, 1946
The lawyer refuted the testimony of the witness.
He refutes the notion that he's planning to retire soon.
She refuted the allegations against her.
Recent Examples on the Web
Writer/director Isaiah Saxon, who made his directorial debut with the feature, took to X to refute assumptions that AI was involved.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 28 Feb. 2025
Two recent reports may refute the view, fueled by recent accidents, that commercial aviation has somehow become less safe.
—Ted Reed, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
The White House did not respond to my questions about why its Jan. 20 statement cited a claim about federal workers that had been so clearly refuted.
—Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica, 24 Feb. 2025
Meta refuted the claims at the time and did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
—Adam Smith, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for refute
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Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 28 Feb. 2025
Two recent reports may refute the view, fueled by recent accidents, that commercial aviation has somehow become less safe.
—Ted Reed, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
The White House did not respond to my questions about why its Jan. 20 statement cited a claim about federal workers that had been so clearly refuted.
—Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica, 24 Feb. 2025
Meta refuted the claims at the time and did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
—Adam Smith, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for refute
Articles Related to refute
Cite this Entry
“Refute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refute. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
refute
verb
re·fute
ri-ˈfyüt 
refuted; refuting
: to prove wrong by argument or evidence : show to be false
refute the testimony of a witness
refuter
noun
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