disconfirmed

Disconfirmed is the past participle of the verb disconfirm and is used to describe a proposition, hypothesis, or claim that is not supported by evidence or has been shown to be incorrect by data or observation. In scientific and analytical contexts, a disconfirmed hypothesis has failed to withstand empirical testing and may be rejected, revised, or qualified. Disconfirmation can arise from new experiments, failed replications, or more rigorous analyses that contradict prior results. Importantly, a finding being disconfirmed does not always prove the proposition false beyond doubt; it often indicates that current evidence is insufficient, methods were flawed, or the tested context differs from the conditions under which the claim was evaluated.

In practice, researchers distinguish disconfirmation from falsification. Falsification is the stronger claim that a hypothesis is contradicted by empirical evidence, whereas disconfirmation may reflect partial support, conditional applicability, or uncertainty. In statistics and research synthesis, null results or replication failures contribute to disconfirmation of effects or theories that were previously claimed to hold.

Disconfirmed claims remain a normal part of the iterative scientific process, guiding revision and refinement rather than constituting definitive final judgments. The term is also used in discourse and philosophy of science to indicate that the current body of evidence does not support a given position under consideration.

See also: disconfirming evidence, falsification, replication, refutation, confirmation bias, replication crisis.