as in disabusing
to free from mistaken beliefs or foolish hopes
we were disillusioned when we saw how the movie star acted in real life
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Recent Examples of disillusioning
And what seemed most probably was a blip ultimately dominoed into the disillusioning 2025 season that will come to a merciful end on Sunday in Las Vegas.
—
Kansas City Star, 1 Jan. 2026
Italy’s established political parties failed to respond effectively to the crisis, disillusioning voters.
—Erik Jones, Foreign Affairs, 21 Sep. 2022
Kansas City Star, 1 Jan. 2026
Italy’s established political parties failed to respond effectively to the crisis, disillusioning voters.
—Erik Jones, Foreign Affairs, 21 Sep. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disillusioning
Verb
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This is also why disabusing new believers of such opinions can feel like plucking shell fragments from a cooking omelet.—
Emil Steiner,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The pastor approaches the line without fully disenchanting; a magician drawing attention to the trick without disowning its power.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That feeling of telling someone about an underrated gem or misunderstand masterpiece is something he’s been chasing since the decline of video stores in the early 2000s.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Feb. 2026
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Fedorov, the new defense minister, acknowledges the scale of the problem, telling the Ukrainian parliament some 2 million people are ignoring their call-up papers, while 200,000 others have deserted.—
Andrew Carey,
CNN Money,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The office would be tasked with advising the council on ways to improve resources for immigrants and how to coordinate county and state policies.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
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Food and Drug Administration officials are advising drug developers to study the long-term effects of using CAR-T to treat patients with autoimmune conditions, out of concern the therapies could cause cancer or fertility issues.—
Allison DeAngelis,
STAT,
2 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disillusioning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disillusioning. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
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