disbelieve

verb dis·be·lieve \ -ˈlēv \

Definition of disbelieve

transitive verb

:to hold not worthy of belief :not believe

intransitive verb

:to withhold or reject belief

—

disbeliever

noun

See disbelieve defined for English-language learners

See disbelieve defined for kids

Examples of disbelieve in a Sentence

Several jurors disbelieved the witness's testimony.
many disbelieved the medium's claims that she could communicate with the spirits of the dead

Recent Examples of disbelieve from the Web

The poignancy of the Marjorie-Walter interactions is that Marjorie both believes and disbelieves that this man, whose soothingness is slightly robotic, is her husband.

— peter rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, "‘Marjorie Prime’ asks, how do we want to be remembered?," 23 Aug. 2017
Girls and young women reported troubling behavior to school officials and asked that he be stopped, only to be disbelieved and see Whitehurst go unscathed, the news story said.

— bethany barnes, OregonLive.com, "Portland school board members demand action after Oregonian/OregonLive reveals botched treatment of sexual misconduct," 18 Aug. 2017
For many victims in the U.S. and elsewhere, the cardinal’s case revives painful memories of being disbelieved and dismissed after suffering abuses in childhood at the hands of priests who were respected, even beloved, in their communities.

— tom kington, latimes.com, "Pope Francis' pledge of 'zero tolerance' for sex abuse faces a test: A top Vatican official is charged," 29 June 2017
If so many people can come forward and still be disbelieved, the devaluation of women’s voices is clear.

— noreen malone, The Cut, "3 Bill Cosby Accusers on His Mistrial and What Comes Next," 25 June 2017
Font FamilyProportional Sans-Serif Impressed with him, Dre called Snoop, but Snoop was disbelieving.

— peter wade, Esquire, "Snoop Dogg Hung up on Dr. Dre the First Time Dre Called Him," 27 May 2017
The study of atheists—merely people who disbelieve or lack belief in the existence of God or gods 1 —is thus a central testing ground for basic theory on the origins of religious and supernatural beliefs (Norenzayan & Gervais, 2013).

— scott canon, kansascity.com, "26 percent of Americans are atheist? Researchers say the godless are undercounted," 1 May 2017
The believers will continue to believe, the disbelievers will continue to disbelieve, and the rest of us will sit in the middle and say, ‘

— alan burdick, The New Yorker, "Did Humans Arrive in America a Hundred Thousand Years Earlier Than We Thought?," 26 Apr. 2017
Maybe Trump could also make these people disbelieve inconvenient truths by banning their utterance.

— dana milbank, The Mercury News, "Milbank: One weird trick could solve all of Trump’s problems," 31 Mar. 2017

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

First Known Use of disbelieve

circa 1644

disbelieve Synonyms

Synonyms

discredit, negate

Antonyms

accept, believe, credit, swallow

Related Words

deny, reject, repudiate; distrust, doubt, mistrust, suspect; debunk, disprove, refute; deride, pooh-pooh (also pooh), scoff (at)

Near Antonyms

trust

DISBELIEVE Defined for English Language Learners

disbelieve

verb

Definition of disbelieve for English Language Learners

: to not believe (someone or something)

DISBELIEVE Defined for Kids

disbelieve

verb dis·be·lieve \ ˌdis-bə-ˈlēv \

Definition of disbelieve for Students

disbelieved; disbelieving

:to think not to be true or real

The jury disbelieved the story.

Learn More about disbelieve

See words that rhyme with disbelieve Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for disbelieve Spanish Central: Translation of disbelieve Nglish: Translation of disbelieve for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of disbelieve for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up disbelieve? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

disbelieve

Definition of disbelieve

disbeliever

Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd

Examples of disbelieve in a Sentence

Recent Examples of disbelieve from the Web

First Known Use of disbelieve

disbelieve Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

DISBELIEVE Defined for English Language Learners

disbelieve

Definition of disbelieve for English Language Learners

DISBELIEVE Defined for Kids

disbelieve

Definition of disbelieve for Students

Learn More about disbelieve

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

Learned Fools: On Names for Students

Trending: NY Times: Trump's Call Ignites 'Imbroglio'

The Exceptions Quiz III

17 English Words that Come From Japanese

Words of the Year: 1066