as in skepticism
refusal to accept something as true
their story explaining their absence was met with frank disbelief
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Recent Examples of disbelief
Her fury at Helios employees being treated so shabbily is matched only by her disbelief at Ger and his crew’s recklessness in allowing the consoles monitoring and controlling all of Happy Valley’s life-support systems and communications with the Titan mission unstaffed.
—
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 1 May 2026
That disbelief has been with Coles all his life.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 1 May 2026
Jean closes her eyes in disbelief.
—Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026
When the sun rose over Baltimore on Sunday morning, the Red Sox awoke with a lingering sense of disbelief.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for disbelief
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 1 May 2026
That disbelief has been with Coles all his life.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 1 May 2026
Jean closes her eyes in disbelief.
—Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026
When the sun rose over Baltimore on Sunday morning, the Red Sox awoke with a lingering sense of disbelief.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for disbelief
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disbelief
Noun
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Enthusiasm for Harris and skepticism about her viability in 2028 aren’t mutually exclusive, said the former Harris fundraiser.—
Justine McDaniel,
Los Angeles Times,
10 May 2026
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The group, founded in 2019 to counter rising skepticism on the left toward the Jewish state, endorsed Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains for the seat in February.—
Mathew Miranda,
Sacbee.com,
9 May 2026
Noun
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Japan is reasserting its military presence across Asia amid rising worries of Chinese aggression and doubts over US commitment to the region’s security.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
7 May 2026
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Attorneys for the defendants, however, contended that the government doesn’t have the evidence to prove there was intent to join a criminal racketeering conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.—
Judy L. Thomas,
Kansas City Star,
7 May 2026
Noun
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His incredulity about their increasingly risky adventures—this is the one that involves a Pontiac Fiero in outer space—becomes one of the film’s running gags.—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2026
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Many of us have spent the past 15 months focused on chaos and bouts of incredulity, if not insanity.—
Donna Vickroy,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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On May 9th, Silvia and Guojun were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, and their children were taken into foster care.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
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Beyond that, the identification of the killer also has allowed families who lived for so long under the dark cloud of suspicion to heal and brought some relief to a woman Gaff attacked before the murders.—
Nina Giraldo,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
Noun
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But in drawing upon those exact fields of study to reverse the long-term march toward unbelief, the authors appear to have missed the mechanism by which those prior discoveries eroded faith: namely, that people had staked their belief on evidence that was overturned by subsequent data.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
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My own passage into and back out of unbelief—one marked by a close reading of works that earlier illiberal societies had attempted to suppress on religious grounds—has strengthened my liberal commitments.—
Christopher Beha,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disbelief.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disbelief. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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