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# disbelieve

«disbelieve» in Mova's school dictionary: **To not believe that someone or something is true; to…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (disbelieve, disbelieves, disbelieved, disbelieving)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To not believe that someone or something is true; to refuse to believe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#m1)

2) To not have faith in something, especially in God (formal, older use). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories: a character may disbelieve a strange tale or warning, often wrongly. In the Bible: Thomas disbelieved that Jesus had risen until he saw him (that's why he is called «Doubting Thomas»). In everyday life: people disbelieve tall stories. Phrases: «disbelieve someone», «disbelieve the story».

### examples

- The villagers disbelieved the boy who cried wolf. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x1)
- Thomas disbelieved the news until he saw Jesus himself. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x2)
- I have no reason to disbelieve you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x3)
- The teacher disbelieved my excuse about the dog eating my homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x4)
- Many people disbelieved the explorer's tales. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x5)
- She was disbelieved at first, but the evidence proved her right. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x6)
- “Then do you disbelieve what I say, and think that I am telling you a falsehood?” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/#x7)

### note

Regular verb. Noun: «disbelief» («in disbelief» = not able to believe it). More common in speech: «not believe». Spelling: «ie» after b-e-l (i before e except after c).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «disbelieve» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disbelieve/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.