Disabuse vs Refute - What's the difference?
disabuse | refute |
To free (someone) (of) a misconception or misapprehension; to unveil a falsehood held by (somebody).
* 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 140:
To prove (something) to be false or incorrect.
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To deny the truth or correctness of (something).
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As verbs the difference between disabuse and refute
is that disabuse is to free (someone) (of) a misconception or misapprehension; to unveil a falsehood held by (somebody) while refute is .disabuse
English
Verb
(disabus)- If we had any hopes or illusions about the National Party before they came into office, we were disabused of them quickly.
refute
English
Verb
(refut)Usage notes
The second meaning of (refute) (to deny the truth of) is proscribed as erroneous by some(compare Merriam Webster,1994). An alternative term with such a meaning is (repudiate), which means to reject or refuse to acknowledge, but without the implication of justification. However, this distinction does not exist in the original Latin , which can apply to both senses.
