[withobj.]prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove 驳斥,反驳(言辞或理论) these claims have not been convincingly refuted. 这些主张未得到有力驳斥。 ■prove that (someone) is wrong 驳倒 ■deny or contradict (a statement or accusation) 辩驳,否认(言辞或指控) a spokesman totally refuted the allegation of bias. 发言人完全否认存在偏见的指控。
派生 refutable adjective refutal noun
(rare 罕)
refutation noun refuter noun 语源
mid 16th cent. : from Latin refutare 'repel, rebut'
用法
The core meaning of refute is ‘prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong’, as in attempts to refute Einstein's theoryIn the second half of the 20th century, a more general sense developed from the core one, meaning simply ‘deny’, as in I absolutely refute the charges made against meTraditionalists object to the second use on the grounds that it is an unacceptable degradation of the language, but it is now widely accepted in standard English