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
This definitive non-detection directly contradicts earlier hints and fully refutes claims from experiments such as Neutrino-4, which reported positive evidence for such a signal.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Dec. 2025
The stock quickly pared its losses after the software giant refuted the story.
—Jeff Marks, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2025
Pomerleau has refuted McLaughlin's characterization of the case.
—Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 1 Dec. 2025
Often such searches can turn up the original post, other videos from the same event or news reports that either confirm or refute the video.
—Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for refute
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Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Dec. 2025
The stock quickly pared its losses after the software giant refuted the story.
—Jeff Marks, CNBC, 3 Dec. 2025
Pomerleau has refuted McLaughlin's characterization of the case.
—Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 1 Dec. 2025
Often such searches can turn up the original post, other videos from the same event or news reports that either confirm or refute the video.
—Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for refute
Cite this Entry
“Refute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refute. Accessed 6 Dec. 2025.
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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