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
Washington has boosted claims that attacks on Nigerian Christians by militants constitute genocide — a characterization the Nigerian government strongly refutes.
—Adrian Elimian, semafor.com, 1 Apr. 2026
The investigation is based on debunked fraud claims, as local election officials have already refuted the allegations of discrepancies by explaining that the citizens group’s analysis relied on incomplete data.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Jones, who lived in San Francisco for years before moving to Napa, refuted the insinuation of carpetbagging.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Mar. 2026
Saatchi, at least, welcomes pushback — and at times doesn’t even refute it.
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for refute
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Adrian Elimian, semafor.com, 1 Apr. 2026
The investigation is based on debunked fraud claims, as local election officials have already refuted the allegations of discrepancies by explaining that the citizens group’s analysis relied on incomplete data.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
Jones, who lived in San Francisco for years before moving to Napa, refuted the insinuation of carpetbagging.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Mar. 2026
Saatchi, at least, welcomes pushback — and at times doesn’t even refute it.
—David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for refute
Cite this Entry
“Refute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refute. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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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