repulsive
Americanadjective
-
causing repugnance or aversion.
a repulsive mask.
- Synonyms:
- distasteful, offensive, disgusting, loathsome
-
capable of causing repulsion; serving to repulse.
to present enough repulsive force to keep the enemy from daring to attack.
-
tending to drive away or keep at a distance; cold; forbidding.
arrogant, repulsive airs to frighten the timid.
-
Physics. of the nature of or characterized by physical repulsion.
adjective
-
causing or occasioning repugnance; loathsome; disgusting or distasteful
a repulsive sight
-
tending to repel, esp by coldness and discourtesy
-
physics concerned with, producing, or being a repulsion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of repulsive
Explanation
If something's repulsive, it's so disgusting you don't want to go near it. You may find rotting meat repulsive, but maggots find it delicious. In the early 17th century, the word repulsive simply meant something that repelled or "pushed away." For example, the like poles of two magnets are repulsive to each other, pushing each other away. Today, repulsive usually means disturbing and sickening. As manners guru Amy Vanderbilt said, "Do not speak of repulsive matters at the table."
Vocabulary lists containing repulsive
Brave New World
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Bridge to Terabithia
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dark matter is thought to act as a kind of gravitational glue, while dark energy is believed to be a repulsive force driving the universe's expansion.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
The researchers found that this repulsive effect can stop the final stage of Hawking evaporation.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
"What is left is an inanimate object. Like all other objects, some people have no interest in this, some people think it's repulsive, but other people like them and they collect them."
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The details Freidenberg recorded testify that daily life was constantly irritating as well as almost always repulsive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Rumfoord was thinking in a military manner: that an inconvenient person, one whose death he wished for very much, for practical reasons, was suffering from a repulsive disease.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
