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/
• 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.

   Sailing round the world debunked the theory that the earth was flat.

   Debunking the myth of the American West.

   That bullshit has already been debunked.

   A myth that has long been debunked.

   The explosion story was thoroughly debunked on National Public Radio in November 1999.

Translations

to discredit or expose the falsehood of something

• Armenian: մերկացնել (hy) (merkacʿnel)
• Bulgarian: развенчавам (bg) (razvenčavam), изобличавам измама (izobličavam izmama)
• Dutch: doorprikken (nl), ontmaskeren (nl)
• Finnish: romuttaa (fi)
• French: dévoiler (fr), se déconsidérer, mettre en pièces (fr), réduire à néant, jeter l'opprobre sur, se discréditer
• Galician: desacreditar
• German: entlarven (de), diskreditieren (de), demaskieren (de), bloßlegen, entschleiern (de)
• Korean: 폭로하다 (ko) (pongnohada), 밝히다 (ko) (balkida)

• Macedonian: разоткрива (razótkriva), разобличува (razoblíčuva)
• Maori: whakanano
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: diskreditere

• Portuguese: desacreditar (pt)
• Russian: развенчивать (ru) (razvenčivatʹ), разоблачать (ru) (razoblačatʹ)
• Spanish: desacreditar (es), ridiculizar (es), hacer añicos, desbaratar (es), hacer trizas, despedazar (es), destrozar (es), desprestigiar (es)

Anagrams

• bunked