debunk

English

WOTD – 15 April 2010

Etymology

de- +‎ bunk (from bunkum, from Buncombe County) 1923

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /diːˈbʌŋk/, /diːˈbʊŋk/
• (US) enPR: dĭ-bŭngkʹ, dē-bŭngkʹ, IPA^(key): /dɪˈbʌŋk/, /ˌdiːˈbʌŋk/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋk

Verb

debunk (third-person singular simple present debunks, present participle debunking, simple past and past participle debunked)

1. (transitive) To 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

• debunkable
• debunker
• prebunking

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)
• 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)
• Ukrainian: розві́нчувати impf (rozvínčuvaty), розвінча́ти pf (rozvinčáty)

Noun

debunk (plural debunks)

1. (informal) A debunking; the act by which something is debunked.

Anagrams

• bunked