English
Etymology
From de- bunk bunkum Buncombe County
Pronunciation
Verb
debunk (third-person singular simple present debunks present participle debunking simple past and past participle debunked
( transitive ) discredit , or expose to ridicule the falsehood or the exaggerated claims of something.
The explosion story was thoroughly debunked on National Public Radio in November 1999.
debunk a theory
2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL , number 1000 , page 61 :Another of my favourite themes has been debunking promises of new technology. Over the years, I have enjoyed watching the lack of progress on driverless cars, drone deliveries, hyperloop, and maglev.
Derived terms
Translations
to discredit or expose the falsehood of something
Arabic: فَنَّدَ ( fannada )
Armenian: մերկացնել (hy) ( merkacʻnel )
Bulgarian: развенчавам (bg) ( razvenčavam ) , изобличавам измама ( izobličavam izmama )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 揭穿 (zh) ( jiēchuān )
Czech: vyvrátit (cs) pf odhalit podstatu pf znevěrohodnit pf zdiskreditovat pf rozkrýt pf
Danish: afsløre skyde ned
Dutch: doorprikken (nl) , ontmaskeren (nl)
Finnish: romuttaa (fi) , kumota (fi) , paljastaa (fi)
French: dévoiler (fr) , se déconsidérer mettre en pièces (fr) , réduire à néant (fr) , jeter l’opprobre sur se discréditer
Galician: desacreditar
German: entlarven (de) , diskreditieren (de) , demaskieren (de) , bloßlegen (de) , entschleiern (de)
Greek: αποδόμηση (el) f ( apodómisi )
Hungarian: szertefoszlat (hu) , eloszlat (hu) , lerombol (hu) , megsemmisít (hu) , leleplez (hu)
Italian: screditare (it) , ridicolizzare sbugiardare demistificare (it) , sbufalare
Korean: 폭로하다 (ko) ( pongnohada ) , 밝히다 (ko) ( balkida )
Macedonian: разоткрива ( razotkriva ) , разобличува ( razobličuva )
Maori: whakanano
Norwegian:
Bokmål: diskreditere
Polish: obalić (pl)
Portuguese: desacreditar (pt)
Russian: развенчивать (ru) ( razvenčivatʹ ) , разоблачать (ru) ( razoblačatʹ )
Spanish: desacreditar (es) , ridiculizar (es) , hacer añicos desbaratar (es) , hacer trizas (es) , despedazar (es) , destrozar (es) , desprestigiar (es) , desmentir (es)
Ukrainian: розві́нчувати impf ( rozvínčuvaty ) , розвінча́ти pf ( rozvinčáty )
Noun
debunk (plural debunks
( informal ) debunking ; the act by which something is debunked.
Anagrams
