debunk

C2+ Topic:Religion & Belief

US /diˈbʌŋk/ UK /diːˈbʌŋk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to expose the falseness of a claim, myth, or pretension

Researchers set out to debunk the popular health myth.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to expose the falseness of... disprove discredit expose refute explode puncture unmask

Opposites

prove confirm verify substantiate corroborate

Word family

Derived forms debunkerdebunking

Related forms bunk

Etymology

An Americanism coined in 1923 by writer W. E. Woodward, from de- ('reverse, remove') plus bunk ('nonsense'). Bunk is short for bunkum, from Buncombe County, North Carolina, after a congressman's pointless speech.

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief

External links

# debunk

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /diˈbʌŋk/
**IPA (UK):** /diːˈbʌŋk/

## Meanings
1. to expose the falseness of a claim, myth, or pretension

## Examples
- Researchers set out to debunk the popular health myth.

## Synonyms
- disprove
- discredit
- expose
- refute
- explode
- puncture
- unmask

## Antonyms
- prove
- confirm
- verify
- substantiate
- corroborate

## Derived Forms
- debunker
- debunking

## Related Forms
- bunk

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: de-

## Etymology
An Americanism coined in 1923 by writer W. E. Woodward, from de- ('reverse, remove') plus bunk ('nonsense'). Bunk is short for bunkum, from Buncombe County, North Carolina, after a congressman's pointless speech.

## AI Etymology
Debunk has this etymological history: An Americanism coined in 1923 by writer W. E. Woodward, from de- ('reverse, remove') plus bunk ('nonsense'). Bunk is short for bunkum, from Buncombe County, North Carolina, after a congressman's pointless speech. The etymological trail includes Latin de-. As a verb, debunk means to expose the falseness of a claim, myth, or pretension. The same family is visible in derived forms such as debunker and debunking and related forms such as bunk.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief

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