debunk

verb

de·​bunk (ˌ)dē-ˈbəŋk 

debunked; debunking; debunks

transitive verb

: to expose the sham (see sham entry 1 sense 2) or falseness of

debunk a legend

debunker noun

Did you know?

To debunk something is to take the bunk out of it—that bunk being “nonsense.” (Bunk is short for the synonymous bunkum, which has political origins.) Debunk has been in use since at least the 1920s, and it contrasts with synonyms like disprove and rebut by suggesting that something is not merely untrue but is also a sham—a trick meant to deceive. One can simply disprove a myth, but if it is debunked, the implication is that the myth was a grossly exaggerated or foolish claim.

Synonyms

• refute

Examples of debunk in a Sentence

The article debunks the notion that life exists on Mars.

The results of the study debunk his theory.

Recent Examples on the Web

Newsweek could find no evidence that Carter said words to that effect, either, and previous misquotes about mail-in voting attributed to the Nobel Peace Prize winner by Trump have been debunked. —Daniel Orton, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025

Hence the full-court press with propagandistic photos that could elicit waves of outrage faster than they could be debunked. —Seth Mandel, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025

Her spokesperson at the time denied the claim, which also was debunked, in part because her property wasn’t close to the fires, Poynter reported. —Martha Ross, Mercury News, 30 July 2025

Goop was publishing, for instance, an article suggesting that bras cause cancer, which is a claim that has been widely debunked. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 28 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1923, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for debunk

• bunk
• chunk
• clunk
• drunk
• dunk
• hunk
• junk
• punk
• shrunk
• slunk
• spunk
• sunk

Kids Definition

debunk

verb

de·​bunk (ˈ)dē-ˈbəŋk 

: to expose the falseness in

debunk popular myths

debunker noun