conspiracy theory
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conspiracy theory
The assumption that an event or situation was secretly planned and caused by a small, powerful group (a conspiracy), even though there is no evidence or only insufficient evidence for it.
Im Internet verbreiten sich oft die wildesten Verschwörungstheorien zu politischen Ereignissen.
The wildest conspiracy theories about political events often spread on the internet.
The word is made up of 'Verschwörung' (conspiracy) and 'Theorie' (theory), connected by an 's'. A conspiracy is a secret plan by a group, and a theory is an assumption or idea. So the meaning can be derived directly from its parts.
Er hat ein ganzes Buch über diese eine Verschwörungstheorie geschrieben.
He wrote an entire book about this one conspiracy theory.
Common verbs used with this word are 'an eine Verschwörungstheorie glauben' (to believe in a conspiracy theory), 'eine Verschwörungstheorie verbreiten' (to spread a conspiracy theory), or 'eine Verschwörungstheorie widerlegen' (to debunk a conspiracy theory).
Manche Leute glauben an die seltsamsten Verschwörungstheorien.
Some people believe in the strangest conspiracy theories.
When you want to express that someone is convinced of a conspiracy theory, you use the preposition 'an' together with the verb 'glauben': 'an etwas glauben' (to believe in something).
Leider glaubt mein Onkel fest an diese Verschwörungstheorie.
Unfortunately, my uncle firmly believes in this conspiracy theory.
theory
'die Theorie' and 'die Verschwörungstheorie' both contain the word 'Theorie', but they do not mean the same thing. A 'Theorie' can be a scientific explanation or an idea that has not yet been tested. A 'Verschwörungstheorie' (conspiracy theory), on the other hand, claims that a secret group is behind an event, usually without good evidence. Learners may confuse the words because 'Verschwörungstheorie' looks like a special kind of theory. The important point is: not every theory is a conspiracy theory.
Paul glaubt einer Verschwörungstheorie, obwohl es dafür keine Beweise gibt.
Paul believes a conspiracy theory, even though there is no evidence for it.
Im Biologieunterricht lernen wir eine Theorie über die Entwicklung der Arten.
In biology class, we learn a theory about the development of species.