
[French désabuser : dés-, dis- + abuser, to delude (from Old French, to misuse; see abuse).]
Connoisseurs of the pseudo-polite putdown will appreciate this one, by a senior Republican US senator to a junior Democratic one:
"Based on past Obama statements, 'I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable,' McCain wrote in a letter to Obama on Monday. 'Thank you for disabusing me of such notions.'"
Link: Senate War Of Words
Posted February 8, 2006.
See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.
v.t.
To present your neighbor with another and better error than the one which he has deemed it advantageous to embrace.
Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - rive ud af, desillusionere, befri
Nederlands (Dutch)
van verkeerd idee afhelpen, uit de droom helpen, rechtzetten
Français (French)
v. tr. - détromper, désenchanter de
Deutsch (German)
v. - eines Besseren belehren
Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - βγάζω από πλάνη, ανοίγω τα μάτια (κάποιου)
Italiano (Italian)
disingannare
Português (Portuguese)
v. - desenganar, desiludir
Русский (Russian)
выводить из заблуждения
Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - desengañar
Svenska (Swedish)
v. - ta ngn ur en villfarelse
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
解惑, 使省悟, 释疑
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 解惑, 使省悟, 釋疑
한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - (환상에서) 깨어 나게 하다
العربيه (Arabic)
(فعل) يحرر شخص من أفكار زائفه
עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - שחרר מרעיונות מוטעים, פקח עיניים
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