debunk

verb

de·bunk (ˌ)dē-ˈbəŋk

debunked; debunking; debunks

Synonyms of debunk next

transitive verb

: to expose the sham (see sham entry 1 sense 2) or falseness of

debunk a legend

debunker noun

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To debunk something is to take the bunk out of it—that bunk being “nonsense.” (Bunk is short for the synonymous bunkum, which has political origins.) Debunk has been in use since at least the 1920s, and it contrasts with synonyms like disprove and rebut by suggesting that something is not merely untrue but is also a sham—a trick meant to deceive. One can simply disprove a myth, but if it is debunked, the implication is that the myth was a grossly exaggerated or foolish claim.

Examples of debunk in a Sentence

The article debunks the notion that life exists on Mars. The results of the study debunk his theory.

Recent Examples on the Web

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.

Since the intelligence agencies do not usually bother to debunk such individual bits of false propaganda, the sudden flurry of public notifications indicates the severity of the threat that U.S. spies now see in the underlying Russian plot against the election. —

The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024 Massive voter fraud in Pennsylvania, debunked: Report Reason Magazine reporter Eric Boehm dissects how voters’ idea of election fraud has spread. —

The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024 Espousing those conspiracy theories, which have been widely debunked, has embroiled the MyPillow CEO and others in defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies like Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. —

Josh Margolin, ABC News, 1 Nov. 2024 The headline featured in the post comes from Slay News, which has previously published misinformation that USA TODAY has debunked. —

Nate Trela, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for debunk