Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
let me disabuse you of your foolish notions about married life
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.
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."
: to show or convince (someone) that a belief is incorrect
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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