Synonyms of shoots down

shoots down

verb

present tense third-person singular of shoot down

1

as in ridicules

to make (someone or something) the object of unkind laughter

nowadays the aging activist is routinely shot down in most quarters of the media and dismissed as an irrelevant crank

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ridicules
• mocks
• laughs (at)
• pokes fun at
• makes fun of
• cocks a snook (at)
• makes sport of
• rags on
• taunts
• scouts
• teases
• derides
• parodies
• jeers
• cocks snooks (at)
• gibes
• skewers
• scoffs (at)
• sneers (at)
• imitates
• torments
• harasses
• ribs
• kids
• puts down
• targets
• scorns
• takes off (on)
• belittles
• disparages
• quizzes
• decries
• bad-mouths
• razzes
• mimics
• rides
• baits
• rallies
• twits
• pesters
• satirizes
• parrots
• caricatures
• chaffs
• jives
• tweaks
• rags
• bugs
• pooh-poohs
• apes
• lampoons
• catcalls
• burlesques
• harries
• pillories
• needles
• joshes
• travesties
• heckles
• barracks
• hassles

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• approves
• endorses
• commends
• sanctions
• applauds

2

as in kills

to reject by or as if by a vote

every one of my fund-raising ideas was shot down by the other club members

Synonyms & Similar Words

• kills
• dismisses
• refuses
• vetoes
• downs
• blackballs
• declines
• negatives
• disallows
• nixes
• disapproves
• blacklists

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• confirms
• allows
• passes
• admits
• approves
• ratifies
• assents (to)
• supports
• elects
• sanctions

3

as in refutes

to prove to be false

the results of several studies shoot down the hypothesis that coffee causes heart attacks

Synonyms & Similar Words

• refutes
• overturns
• disproves
• challenges
• gives the lie to
• falsifies
• discredits
• debunks
• rebuts
• discusses
• belies
• confutes
• confounds
• disconfirms
• contests
• questions
• debates
• overthrows
• doubts
• talks over
• hashes (over)
• queries
• mistrusts
• moots

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• confirms
• proves
• establishes
• shows
• witnesses
• validates
• verifies
• records
• supports
• documents
• backs (up)
• evidences
• identifies
• corroborates
• illustrates
• attests
• displays
• substantiates
• demonstrates
• evinces
• certifies
• manifests
• buttresses
• adduces
• authenticates

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shoots down

Speculation soon followed that this effort was in response to the aforementioned test audience confusion, but Cronin shoots down that notion about the last-minute social media campaign. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2026

And in the comments of her introductory video, her team shoots down every plausible guess. — Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025

The powerful big tech lobby shoots down any law remotely alludes to testing and regulating AI machines. — The Ai Insider, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2025