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
But Judge Tharp refuted that claim, indulging in a few other jokes in his ruling.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2026
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS very publicly refuted Colbert’s version of events in a statement, which led to Colbert’s rejoinder on his own show.
—Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 18 Feb. 2026
But the company is refuting the claims.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 16 Feb. 2026
But Kennedy was equally as defiant and doubled down on his stance, strongly refuting the allegations directed towards him.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for refute
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jake Angelo, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2026
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS very publicly refuted Colbert’s version of events in a statement, which led to Colbert’s rejoinder on his own show.
—Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 18 Feb. 2026
But the company is refuting the claims.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 16 Feb. 2026
But Kennedy was equally as defiant and doubled down on his stance, strongly refuting the allegations directed towards him.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for refute
Cite this Entry
“Refute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refute. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
