| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | weaken, cause instability |
| Synonyms: | bankrupt, bust, confound, confute, controvert, cow, cripple, declass, degrade, demerit, demoralize, demote, disconfirm, dispirit, disprove, downgrade, enervate, enfeeble, humiliate, impair, impoverish, incapacitate, pauperize, rebut, reduce, refute, ruin, subdue, tame, undermine |
| Notes: | to brake is to slow or stop while break is to cause to separate into pieces suddenly or violently, smash or crack |
| Antonyms: | stabilize, strengthen |
| Main Entry: | disprove |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | prove false |
| Synonyms: | belie, blow sky high, blow up, break, confound, confute, contradict, contravene, controvert, deny, disconfirm, discredit, explode, expose, find unfounded, impugn, invalidate, knock bottom out of, knock props out, negate, negative, overthrow, overturn, poke holes in, puncture, rebut, refute, set aside, shoot, shoot holes in, tear down, throw out, traverse, weaken |
| Antonyms: | credit, prove, validate |
| Main Entry: | rebut |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | argue against; prove wrong |
| Synonyms: | break, come back at, confound, confute, controvert, cross, defeat, deny, disconfirm, disprove, evert, fend off, get back at, hold off, invalidate, keep off, negate, negative, overturn, prove false, quash, refute, repel, repulse, stave off, take on, top, ward off |
| Notes: | to rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means 'contradict' or 'deny') |
| Antonyms: | agree, approve, back down, concede |
| Main Entry: | refute |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | prove false; discredit |
| Synonyms: | abnegate, argue against, blow sky high, break, burn, burn down, cancel, cancel out, confute, contend, contradict, contravene, convict, counter, crush, debate, demolish, disclaim, disconfirm, dispose of, disprove, dispute, evert, explode, expose, gainsay, give the lie to, give thumbs down to, invalidate, negate, oppose, overthrow, parry, quash, rebut, reply to, repudiate, shoot down, shoot full of holes, show up, silence, squelch, take a stand against, tear down, top* |
| Notes: | deny means to declare untrue or refuse to accept or believe or to refuse to recognize or acknowledge; refute means to prove to be false, wrong, or incorrect to rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means 'contradict' or 'deny') refute means 'to show conclusively to be false or illogical' and applies primarily to assertions or arguments; confute means 'to prove wrong' and applies primarily to the person or agency making the assertion or argument |
| Antonyms: | endorse, prove, ratify, sanction, support |