repellent

or re·pel·lant

[ ri-pel-uhnt ]
See synonyms for: repellentrepellents on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. causing distaste or aversion; repulsive.

  2. forcing or driving back.

  1. serving or tending to ward off or drive away.

  2. impervious or resistant to something (often used in combination): moth-repellant.

noun
  1. something that repels, as a substance that keeps away insects.

  2. a medicine that serves to prevent or reduce swellings, tumors, etc.

  1. any of various durable or nondurable solutions applied to a fabric, garment, surface, etc., to increase its resistance, as to water, moths, mildew, etc.

Origin of repellent

1
1635–45; <Latin repellent- (stem of repellēns), present participle of repellere to drive back. See repel, -ent

Other words for repellent

Other words from repellent

  • re·pel·lent·ly, adverb
  • in·ter·re·pel·lent, adjective
  • non·re·pel·lent, adjective
  • self-re·pel·lent, adjective
  • un·re·pel·lent, adjective
  • un·re·pel·lent·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with repellent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use repellent in a sentence

  • His voice was harsh and his manner repellant only because Nature had served him the cruel turn of making them so.

  • This rough, repellant man actually paid court to me, served me at table as if I had been his lady.

  • He was in such great and desperate earnest that he was not quite so repellant as usual.

    A Plucky Girl | L. T. Meade
  • Even to Kenwick's inexpert eyes the room appeared somehow dirty and repellant.

    The Rest Hollow Mystery | Rebecca N. Porter
  • Elinor redoubled her loving ways from that time, and strove to cheer and gladden him, but he was almost repellant.

    'Laramie;' | Charles King

British Dictionary definitions for repellent

repellent

/ (rɪˈpɛlənt) /


adjective
  1. giving rise to disgust or aversion; distasteful or repulsive

  2. driving or forcing away or back; repelling

nounAlso: repellant
  1. something, esp a chemical substance, that repels: insect repellent

  2. a substance with which fabrics are treated to increase their resistance to water

Derived forms of repellent

  • repellence or repellency, noun
  • repellently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012