disabuse

verb dis·abuse \ ˌdis-ə-ˈbyüz \

Definition of disabuse

transitive verb

:to free from error, misconception, or fallacy (see fallacy 2a)

was quickly disabused of the idea that anything had changed

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disabuse was our Word of the Day on 11/15/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of disabuse in a Sentence

let me disabuse you of your foolish notions about married life

Recent Examples of disabuse from the Web

Sansa freed herself from a bunch of male abusers, got schooled in realpolitik and became an able and sure-handed leader, disabused of the naïve courtly fantasies that used to seduce her.

— anna silman, The Cut, "On Game of Thrones, Sisters Finally Did It for Themselves," 28 Aug. 2017
A real job in a real company in the real world will soon disabuse even the most talented youth of his preciousness.

— ana veciana-suarez, miamiherald, "More students get A’s than any other grade. What does that say about us?," 27 July 2017
The aim of the United States is to disabuse them of such thinking, while speaking ever more softly with an ever-bigger stick.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "The Korean Games of Thrones," 25 July 2017
But the events of the book disabuse Marianne of this way of thinking.

— matt thompson, The Atlantic, "'On the Wrong Side of Five-and-Thirty': How Jane Austen Grew Up," 18 July 2017
If opponents of President Trump were hoping that this was a smoking gun that would tilt support away from him, though, a new Post-ABC News poll released on Sunday will quickly disabuse them of that idea.

— philip bump, Washington Post, "Most Americans think Trump Jr.’s meeting was inappropriate — but few were newly convinced of collusion," 17 July 2017
Allow Bloomberg to disabuse you of that notion: . .

— bess levin, The Hive, "Trump’s Tax Plan Would Be 23,500 Times Better for the Ultra-Rich Than the Poor," 12 July 2017
Pom Pom’s disabused me of that sandwich intolerance.

— andy staples, SI.com, "Where to eat, drink in Orlando," 30 June 2017
As always, Trump is a clarifying figure: in this case, disabusing us of the myth of the American military as non-ideological svengalis.

— jeet heer, New Republic, "H.R. McMaster and the Foolish Trust in Trump’s “Generals”," 2 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'disabuse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

We know the verb "abuse" as a word meaning "to misuse," "to mistreat," or "to revile." But when "disabuse" first appeared in the early 17th century, there was a sense of "abuse," now obsolete, that meant "to deceive." Sir Francis Bacon used that sense, for example, when he wrote in 1605, "You are much abused if you think your virtue can withstand the King's power." The prefix dis- has the sense of undoing the effect of a verb, so it's not surprising that disabuse means "to undeceive." English speakers didn't come up with the idea of joining "dis-" to "abuse" all on their own, however. It was the French who first appended their prefix "dés-" to their verb "abuser." English "disabuse" is modeled after French "désabuser."