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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Examples of disabuse in a Sentence
let me disabuse you of your foolish notions about married life
Recent Examples of disabuse from the Web
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Allow Bloomberg to disabuse you of that notion: . .
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Pom Pom’s disabused me of that sandwich intolerance.
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As always, Trump is a clarifying figure: in this case, disabusing us of the myth of the American military as non-ideological svengalis.
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Both times, I was disabused of any notion that Paris is the most romantic city on earth.
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If anybody thought that having the responsibility of running the entire Education Department would broaden her scope, this speech should disabuse them of that.
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In an epilogue, Hoock makes the wise point that, given what wars of national liberation are actually like, Americans should perhaps be disabused of our enthusiasm for nation-building and democracy exportation.
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The first three months of the Trump administration have done nothing to disabuse them of this belief.
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A quick look at T-REX project on Interstate 25 should disabuse anyone of this notion — the congestion there is worse than before it was widened.
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."
Origin and Etymology of disabuse
French désabuser, from dés- dis- + abuser to abuse
DISABUSE Defined for English Language Learners
disabuse
playDefinition of disabuse for English Language Learners
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: to show or convince (someone) that a belief is incorrect
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See words that rhyme with disabuse Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for disabuse Spanish Central: Translation of disabuse Nglish: Translation of disabuse for Spanish speakers
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