Meaning & use
myth busting
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The activity of showing that a widely believed idea is false.
Grammar: No plural and no 'a': say 'some myth busting', not 'a myth busting'.
Patterns
- do some myth busting
- myth busting about something
The article does some useful myth busting about diets.
Her talk was mostly myth busting about language learning.
There has been a lot of myth busting since the report came out.
adjectivebefore a noun
Describing work or writing that proves popular beliefs wrong.
Grammar: Comes before a noun and is often hyphenated: a myth-busting study.
Patterns
- a myth-busting article
- a myth-busting campaign
The paper published a myth-busting guide to colds.
Their myth-busting video got a million views.
Common combinations
- do some myth busting
- The podcast does some myth busting about sleep.
- myth-busting article
- She wrote a myth-busting article about vitamins.
- a bit of myth busting
- A bit of myth busting would help here.
- myth busting about
- There is too much myth busting about and too few facts.
Synonyms and how they differ
- debunking
- Very close in meaning but more formal and used as a noun or participle: the debunking of a theory.
- fact-checking
- Checking whether claims are true, not necessarily proving a popular belief false.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: myth busting or myth?
myth busting vs myth
A myth is the false belief itself; myth busting is the act of proving it false.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'myth busting' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Myth busting' is uncountable, so 'its myth busting about food' is fine. Option 1 adds 'a', option 3 uses it as a verb, and option 4 makes an impossible plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “myth busting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.