disbelieve

C2+ Topic:Mind & Cognition

US /ˌdɪsbɪˈliv/ UK /ˌdɪsbɪˈliːv/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to be unable or unwilling to believe something or someone

The jury seemed to disbelieve every word of the witness's account.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to be unable or unwilling... doubt discredit mistrust distrust reject

Opposites

believe trust accept credit

Word family

Derived forms disbelieverdisbelieving

Related forms believe belief disbelief

Etymology

A 17th-century formation from dis- ('reversal') plus believe; believe is from Old English belȳfan, gelȳfan ('to believe'), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną, related to love and to lief ('dear').

dis- Latin gelȳfan Old English *galaubijaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Mind & Cognition

External links

# disbelieve

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

## Meanings
1. to be unable or unwilling to believe something or someone

## Examples
- The jury seemed to disbelieve every word of the witness's account.

## Synonyms
- doubt
- discredit
- mistrust
- distrust
- reject

## Antonyms
- believe
- trust
- accept
- credit

## Derived Forms
- disbeliever
- disbelieving

## Related Forms
- believe
- belief
- disbelief

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dis-
- Root: gelȳfan
- Root: *galaubijaną

## Etymology
A 17th-century formation from dis- ('reversal') plus believe; believe is from Old English belȳfan, gelȳfan ('to believe'), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną, related to love and to lief ('dear').

## AI Etymology
Disbelieve has this etymological history: A 17th-century formation from dis- ('reversal') plus believe; believe is from Old English belȳfan, gelȳfan ('to believe'), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną, related to love and to lief ('dear'). The etymological trail includes Latin dis-, Old English gelȳfan, and Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. As a verb, disbelieve means to be unable or unwilling to believe something or someone. The same family is visible in derived forms such as disbeliever and disbelieving and related forms such as believe, belief, and disbelief.

## Topics
- Mind & Cognition

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