confutation
/ˌkɒn.fjuːˈteɪ.ʃən/
confutation means the act or process of confuting; refutation. It carries an Arena rating of 1420, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, confutation ranks #1,666 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,906 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,092 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #5,836 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
confutation is pronounced /ˌkɒn.fjuːˈteɪ.ʃən/.
Why “confutation” is a great word
The decisive act of proving an argument not merely wrong but utterly untenable and void. From the Latin cōnfūtātiō ("refutation"), from cōnfūtāre ("to repress, disprove, silence"), it entered English in the late 15th century. Unlike a "rebuttal," which counters a claim, or a "refutation," which disproves it, a confutation aims for conclusive, silencing finality. It is the closing of a ledger with a final, incontrovertible sum; the chess move that is not merely a capture but an inescapable checkmate; the dismantling of a premise so completely that only the hollow sound of its absence remains—the quiet that follows when a false idea has been definitively answered, leaving nothing more to be said.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin cōnfūtātiō (“refutation”, feminine noun). By surface analysis, confute + -ation.
noun
- The act or process of confuting; refutation.
- Something that confutes.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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