MEANING
To show through evidence or reasoning that a claim is false.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- disprove a claim
- disprove a hypothesis
On the page
The counterexample disproves the universal claim.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- disprove
- Past tense
- disproved
- Past participle
- disproved
- Present participle
- disproving
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- disprove
- Present continuous
- am/is/are disproving
- Present perfect
- have/has disproved
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been disproving
- Past
- disproved
- Past continuous
- was/were disproving
- Past perfect
- had disproved
- Past perfect continuous
- had been disproving
- Future
- will disprove
- Future continuous
- will be disproving
- Future perfect
- will have disproved
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been disproving
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: disprove; disproves; disproved; disproved; disproving Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: argumentation, evidence, inference. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: disproves.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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