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unbelief ~ disbelief

[different first sound]

“Unbelief” (noun & very formal) is ‘the lack of belief or the act of refusing to believe in God or a religion’,

e.g.

The believers say: ‘Faith is the opposite of unbelief, and health is the opposite of death!’.

{However, with ‘believable, believably & believer’ only the prefix “un…” is used – not the prefix ‘dis…’}

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“Disbelief” (noun & more common of the two words) is ‘a feeling that something (not religion alone) is not true or has not happened or does not exist or cannot exist’,

e.g.

When he told her that he stole her money, she stared at him in disbelief.

The usual reaction to bad news is a mixture of shock and disbelief.

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