Disbeliefs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of mind characterized by the rejection of accepted facts or beliefs
2. A feeling of skepticism or doubt regarding established truths or doctrines
3. The expression of doubt or rejection towards commonly accepted ideas or notions

Etymology: "Disbeliefs" is simply the plural of "disbelief," so it describes several acts or instances of rejecting something. The noun "disbelief" is formed from the English prefix "dis-", meaning "not" or "the opposite of," attached to "belief." That prefix traces back through Latin "dis-" and ultimately to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "apart" or "two," while "belief" comes from Middle English "bileve," descended from Old English "lēafa" (a word for trust or faith) and related to the Germanic root behind "lief" and "love"-adjacent senses of trust. The English prefix "dis-" was used in Middle English, and "disbelief" follows the same pattern as older English pairings that reverse a word's sense. Its meaning is the reverse of belief: a refusal to accept what others take as true. Because English makes the abstract noun countable only loosely, the plural "disbeliefs" usually appears when writers want to name separate doubts or rejections, such as several distinct disbeliefs held by different groups.

Synonyms: skepticisms, doubts, incredulities, mistrusts, denials

Antonyms: beliefs, faiths, acceptances, trusts