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.
To keep his equations from predicting a collapsing universe, he introduced the cosmological constant as a kind of repulsive effect in empty space that counterbalanced gravity.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
It’s taboo because we make it so, which means that the legitimately taboo looks all the more repulsive by comparison.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
His relationship with Tuchel has frequently come under scrutiny, with the manager describing Bellingham's on-field behaviour during last June's defeat by Senegal as "repulsive" – a remark Tuchel later apologised for.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
When she’s relating something repulsive, she drops into a whisper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
The rats here are particularly repulsive, they are so fat—the kind we all call corpse-rats.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Definitions 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.
