Standard Lemma guide

disabuse

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, UK: /dɪsəˈbjuːz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːz
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S AH0 B Y UW1 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: D IH0 S AH0 B Y UW1 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To free (someone) of a misconception or misapprehension; to unveil a falsehood held by (someone).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

free somebody (from an erroneous belief)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inform

History

Etymology

From dis- + abuse. Compare French désabuser.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: desenganyar — free of a misconception
  • Chinese Mandarin: 消除 (xiāochú) — free of a misconception
  • Chinese Mandarin: 糾正 /纠正 (jiūzhèng) — free of a misconception
  • Chinese Mandarin: 打消 (dǎxiāo) — free of a misconception
  • Dutch: ontdoen — free of a misconception
  • Dutch: terugbrengen van een dwaling — free of a misconception
  • Dutch: uit de droom helpen — free of a misconception
  • Finnish: oikaista harhaluulo — free of a misconception
  • Finnish: oikaista väärinkäsitys — free of a misconception
  • French: détromper — free of a misconception
  • German: aufklären — free of a misconception
  • German: eines Besseren belehren — free of a misconception
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bringe ut av villfarelse — free of a misconception
  • Polish: wyprowadzać z błędu — free of a misconception
  • Polish: wyprowadzić z błędu — free of a misconception
  • Portuguese: desenganar — free of a misconception
  • Romanian: dezabuzează — free of a misconception
  • Spanish: desengañar — free of a misconception