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
When rumors flew in the colonies that Franklin had personally designed the Stamp Act, William refuted the charges.
—Stacy Schiff, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
Strowman quickly refuted this claim on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Ever the nosy detective, Ashley takes it upon herself to search Virginia’s court records to find a record of Stacey’s divorce, and comes up empty, a claim that Stacey doesn’t refute.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
These findings refuted longstanding preconceived beliefs about humans and animals.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for refute
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Stacy Schiff, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
Strowman quickly refuted this claim on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Ever the nosy detective, Ashley takes it upon herself to search Virginia’s court records to find a record of Stacey’s divorce, and comes up empty, a claim that Stacey doesn’t refute.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
These findings refuted longstanding preconceived beliefs about humans and animals.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 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 12 Oct. 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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