disabuse

English

Etymology

From Middle French désabuser, or dis- +‎ abuse.

Pronunciation

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /dɪsəˈbjuːz/

Verb

disabuse (third-person singular simple present disabuses, present participle disabusing, simple past and past participle disabused)

1. (transitive) To free (someone) of a misconception or misapprehension; to unveil a falsehood held by (someone).
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. , volume I, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 201:

     I had been too profoundly disabused of life's dearest illusions ever again to allow of their sweet engrossment.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 140:

     If we had any hopes or illusions about the National Party before they came into office, we were disabused of them quickly.

Synonyms

• undeceive

Derived terms

• disabusal

Translations

Anagrams

• subideas