Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use disbelief in a sentence

35 example sentences · noun

Disbelief means an unpreparedness, unwillingness, or an inability to believe that something is the case. Example: “She cried out in disbelief on hearing that terrorists had crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center in New York City.”

Examples of disbelief by meaning

nounAn unpreparedness, unwillingness, or an inability to believe that something is the case.

  • She cried out in disbelief on hearing that terrorists had crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center in New York City.
  • 'Brooms?' I asked him in disbelief.2026 June 24, Vitali Vitaliev, “Life on the borderline”, in RAIL, number 1064, page 68

nounAstonishment.

  • I stared in disbelief at the Grand Canyon.
  • On the streets leading down to the main road to Tiananmen Square, furious people stared in disbelief at the glow in the sky, listening to the sound of shots.1989 June 4, Kate Adie, 0:11 from the start, in Archive: Chinese troops fire on protesters in Tiananmen Square - BBC News, Peking: BBC...

nounThe loss or abandonment of a belief; the cessation of belief.

  • No adolescent can achieve disbelief in the stork without an eruption of young oaths and cynicisms.1927, Gilbert W. Gabriel, “Male, Female and American Drama”, in Vanity Fair, volume 27, number 4, page 73
  • His later left-wing films prevented any pure and strong emotional attachment between the two sexes from gaining narrative momentum, which might reflect his gradual disbelief in romantic love.2002, Laikwan Pang, Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-wing Cinema Movement, 1932-1937, →ISBN, page 99
  • Just like the disbelief in Santa Claus happens gradually, I wondered if it was similar for people leaving their faith.2012, Gloria Neufeld Redekop, Bad Girls and Boys Go to Hell (or not): Engaging Fundamentalist Evangelicalism, →ISBN, page 246

More sentences with disbelief

  • Each boy stole a glance at the other and met the same look of disbelief.From the entry steal a glance
  • Although the novel was quite far-fetched, I was willing to suspend my disbelief.From the entry suspend one's disbelief
  • The shock left him in a stupor of disbelief.From the entry stupor
  • In science fiction films, suspension of disbelief is essential.From the entry suspension of disbelief
  • She knuckled her eyes in disbelief.From the entry knuckle
  • After Bongino reiterated that Epstein killed himself, he was flooded with responses of disbelief.2025 May 20, Tal Axelrod, “MAGA faithful grow frustrated with Trump's Justice Department”, in Axios. From the entry buy
  • Parker got his new passport in the mail, he was initially in disbelief.2025 March 3, Nico Lang, ““Simply Trying to Exist”: How Trans Americans Are Navigating the Confusion and Chaos of Trump’s Passport…. From the entry ups
  • Alicole are both hypocrites, I was shouting at my screen in disbelief.2024 June 16, wildwood1q84, Reddit. From the entry Alicole
  • The topic of money requires the most awkward suspension of disbelief in fiction.2022 January 7, Jordan Calhoun, “The One Thing TV Characters Don’t Talk About”, in Humans Being, The Atlantic. From the entry suspension of disbelief
  • Denial and disbelief tend to be the default, not a pragmatic embracing of unthinkables and unpalatables.2019, Paul Williams, Andreas Krebs, The Illusion of Invincibility. From the entry unpalatable
  • Instead, it brought a large helping of disbelief with a jumbo-sized side order of jealousy.2018, Greg James, Chris Smith, Kid Normal and the Rogue Heroes: Kid Normal 2. From the entry side order
  • The class responds with grumbling, incredulousness, and the inevitable declaration of disbelief and resistance; "Are you serious?"2003 Apr, Fletcher Winston, “What if Milgram Controlled Student Grades?”, in Teaching Sociology, volume 31, number 2, page 222. From the entry incredulousness
  • A sign nailed to a manita tree read “Jardín Botánica.” Edmund surveyed this pathetic place in disbelief.2000, Stephen Harrigan, The Gates of the Alamo: A Novel. From the entry manita
  • But that look of disbelief on Leonard's face could not have been more real.1993, Judith Pella, Frontier Lady (Lone Star Legacy Book #1), Baker Books, →ISBN. From the entry colt
  • We don't need symbols like the interrobang that merely express our perpetual disbelief.1968 November 15, William Zinsser, “For clear expression: Try words: The interrobang”, in Life, volume 65, number 20, Chicago, Ill.; New…. From the entry interrobang
  • Disbelief that anything serious could happen, by that opponent, so early?1966, Chess Review, page 334. From the entry misfinger
  • The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed.1947, J.R.R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-Stories”, in Essays Presented to Charles Williams, page 60. From the entry secondary world
  • I avowed outright my entire disbelief in the whole scheme of revealed religion.1909, H. G. Wells, chapter 2, in Tono Bungay. From the entry revealed religion
  • Eesh! she shook her head in disbelief.2013, Elizabeth Collins, The Crossroads of Zil, page 238. From the entry eesh
  • It's very hard to suspend your disbelief.2013 September 22, Daniel Harris, “PSG v Monaco – as it happened”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News &…. From the entry horrificity
  • Iakovos stared down at her in complete disbelief.2011, Katie MacAlister, It's All Greek to Me. From the entry foreplay
  • For several moments of disbelief and absolute wonder, he stared at the godwink he held in his hands!2006, SQuire D. Rushnell (sic), When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence, page 15. From the entry godwink
  • For this reason some overfamiliar or recycled accounts provoke boredom or disbelief, and can be made to seem propagandistic.2002 Sep, Christopher Hitchens, “Martin Amis: Lightness at Midnight”, in The Atlantic. From the entry propagandistic
  • I don't have a problem with the CGI-- it's the overall production design and writing that destroys the suspension of disbelief.1999 May 15, Glenn Saunders, “What Makes a Good (Live-action) Fantasy Movie?”, in rec.arts.sf.movies (Usenet). From the entry soundstagey
  • Then, before the girl could stammer her disbelief, Ms.1975 December 11, Geoffrey Brown, “People Are Talking About”, in Jet, page 50. From the entry black don't crack
  • Alief is a concept useful in virtual training that describes situations where the person experiencing a simulated scenario knows it is not real, but suspends disbelief (willingly or unwillingly).2011, Derek Harter, Shulan Lu, Pratyush Kotturu, Devin Pierce, “An Immersive Virtual Environment for Varying Risk and Immersion for…. From the entry alief
  • The rest of the kids in the room stopped what they were doing and stared with disbelief as the Dungeon Mistress made a total spectacle of herself.2004 July, Alice Alfonsi, chapter 7, in Freaked Out (Lizzie McGuire; 15), New York, N.Y.: Disney Press/Volo, →ISBN, page 133. From the entry dungeon mistress
  • I sat down by the window and read the menu in disbelief, for along with borscht and sakuski, egg salad and bread, it offered pelmeni, schnitzel, and roast chicken.1999, Ingo Schulze, translated by John E[dwin] Woods, chapter 18, in 33 Moments of Happiness: St. Petersburg Stories, London: Picador…. From the entry sakuska

Meaning of disbelief

  1. noun An unpreparedness, unwillingness, or an inability to believe that something is the case.
  2. noun Astonishment.
  3. noun The loss or abandonment of a belief; the cessation of belief.

Full definition of disbelief

Questions about disbelief in a sentence

How do you use disbelief in a sentence?
Disbelief is used as a noun. For example: “She cried out in disbelief on hearing that terrorists had crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center in New York City.”
What is a short sentence with disbelief?
“'Brooms?' I asked him in disbelief.”
What does disbelief mean?
Disbelief means an unpreparedness, unwillingness, or an inability to believe that something is the case.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: disbelief (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use disbelief in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/disbelief. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.