Talk:disbelief

The definition previously given for disbelief ("disbelief is the condition of not believing") is quite different from most dictionaries. That definition is appropriate for non-belief, just as a 2 year old might not believe the earth goes around the sun, having never considered it. However, the example given (My sister cried out in disbelief when she heard that terrorists had crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center in New York City. ) requires the individual to have considered the idea & to have a conscious problem believing it --JimWae 22:57, 18 March 2007 (UTC) --JimWae 05:04, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

sorry to be contrary per the above or others elect of the same idea , but..

outside of its probably more widely used fictional adjective like description, are of it used in much more solid conjunctions of more realistic and concrete nature/s. i think this carries enough relevance, and to submit it as what is its lesser renowned non-belief would be often appropriate, but disbelief being used much more commonly in conversation.

RFV discussion: November 2014–January 2015

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disbelief

Rfv-sense: "The act of removing a belief from the mind or the result of such removal."

This is a rewording of a definition just added by an anon. This is morphologically possible, but does not appear in any of the OneLook references. Could there be use in this sense? DCDuring TALK 09:55, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

A couple of possible citations:

• No adolescent can achieve disbelief in the stork without an eruption of young oaths and cynicisms. (from Vanity Fair)
• Just like the disbelief in Santa Claus happens gradually, I wondered if it was similar for people leaving their faith. (Bad Girls and Boys Go to Hell (or not): Engaging Fundamentalist Evangelicalism)
• His later left-wing films prevented any pure and strong emotional attachment between the two sexes from gaining narrative momentum, which might reflect his gradual disbelief in romantic love. (from Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-wing Cinema Movement, 1932-1937)

I think most of the Google books hits for "gradual disbelief" support this sense. Smurrayinchester (talk) 08:43, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Good finds. They initially seemed a bit ambiguous to me, but I think they support the definition. I wonder whether we could beat OED to the punch on this one.

Further, I wonder whether there are parallel uses of the verb disbelieve, either like transitive like disabuse (someone) of (a belief), or only reflexive, or transitive with a belief as object. If so, it would probably be even less ambiguous. DCDuring TALK 16:15, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Here are examples of the verb with the belief as object. They help me get the concept.

Both religious and secular use. DCDuring TALK 16:31, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Looks good, I might reword it a bit, I don't think 'removing from the mind' is the best wording though; I'm a former Christian and the believe hasn't been removed from my mind, I just don't believe it anymore. Renard Migrant (talk) 18:16, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Please, give it your best shot. DCDuring TALK 19:22, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

I did rather walk into that. Renard Migrant (talk) 12:30, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

RFV-passed. Thanks, all, for the cites and the refinement of the definition. I have just tweaked it, and the def of disbelieve, a bit further. - -sche (discuss) 06:33, 30 January 2015 (UTC)