debunking n : the exposure of falseness or pretensions; "the debunking of religion has been too successful" [syn: repudiation]

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A debunker is an individual who discredits and contradicts claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, or pseudoscientific research.

The American Heritage Dictionary traces the passage of the words bunk (noun), debunk (verb) and debunker (noun) into American English in 1923 as a belated outgrowth of "bunkum", of which the first recorded use was in 1828, apparently related to a poorly received "speech for Buncombe" given by North Carolina representative Felix Walker during the 16th United States Congress (1819–1821).

The term debunk originated in a 1923 novel Bunk, by American novelist William Woodward (1874–1950), who used it to mean to "take the bunk out of things."

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