Vindicate vs Refute - What's the difference?
vindicate | refute |
To clear from an accusation, suspicion or criticism.
To justify by providing evidence.
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=June 19
, author=Phil McNulty
, title=England 1-0 Ukraine
, work=BBC Sport
To maintain or defend a cause against opposition.
To provide justification for.
To lay claim to; to assert a right to; to claim.
(obsolete) To liberate; to set free; to deliver.
(obsolete) To avenge; to punish
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 vindicate and refute
is that vindicate is to clear from an accusation, suspicion or criticism while refute is to prove (something) to be false or incorrect.vindicate
English
Verb
- to vindicate someone's honor
- to vindicate a right, claim or title
citation, page= , passage=The Ukrainians immediately demanded a goal and their claims were vindicated as replays showed the ball crossed the line before Terry's intervention.}}
- to vindicate the rights of labor movement in developing countries
- The violent history of the suspect vindicated the use of force by the police.
- A war to vindicate infidelity.
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.