Disprove awful brute (5)
I believe the answer is:
rebut
'disprove' is the definition.
(I know that rebut is a more specific form of the action disprove)
'awful brute' is the wordplay.
'awful' indicates anagramming the letters.
'brute' with letters rearranged gives 'REBUT'.
(Other definitions for rebut that I've seen before include "Prove the claim wrong" , "Overthrow by argument or proof" , "show as bad" , "Deny claim" , "Rebuff; deny" .)