disenchant

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to cause someone to lose an idealized belief, admiration, or enthusiasm; to disillusion

   Repeated corruption scandals disenchanted many voters with the reform movement.

2. 2
   verb

   in fantasy or folklore, to free someone or something from a magic spell

   Only the hidden amulet could disenchant the prince and restore his human form.

From French desenchanter, now analyzable as dis- ("reverse, remove") + enchant. It first meant removing a literal magic spell; the dominant figurative sense treats an attractive false belief as an enchantment from which someone awakens.

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