repulse

American  

[ri-puhls] / rɪˈpʌls /

verb (used with object)

repulsed, repulsing

1. to drive back; repel.

   to repulse an assailant.

2. to repel with denial, discourtesy, or the like; refuse or reject.

   Synonyms:

   snub, shun, spurn, rebuff

3. to cause feelings of repulsion in.

   The scenes of violence in the film may repulse some viewers.

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noun

1. the act of repelling.

2. the fact of being repelled, as in hostile encounter.

3. a refusal or rejection.

repulse British  

/ rɪˈpʌls /

verb

1. to drive back or ward off (an attacking force); repel; rebuff

2. to reject with coldness or discourtesy

   she repulsed his advances

3. to produce a feeling of aversion or distaste

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noun

1. the act or an instance of driving back or warding off; rebuff

2. a cold discourteous rejection or refusal

Usage

Some people think that the use of repulse in sentences such as he was repulsed by what he saw is incorrect and that the correct word is repel

Other Word Forms

• repulser noun
• unrepulsed adjective
• unrepulsing adjective

Etymology

Origin of repulse

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin repulsus, past participle of repellere to repel

Explanation

To repulse something is to repel it or drive it back. When you repulse your sister, you disgust her. When you repulse the enemy in battle or someone in conversation, you force them back or make them turn away. Repulse is related to the word repel, and they mean similar things: to repulse an advance — romantic or warring — is to repel, or fend off, its advance. To repulse someone by being disgusting is to be repellent. You could repulse a person's attempts at conversation if you repulse him by picking your nose. Repulse is now most frequently used in the gross-out sense, but Jane Austin often had her characters repulse each others’ attempts at conversation or civility.

Example Sentences

Aristotle recognized that we take pleasure in viewing fictional representations of tragedies, suffering and mutilated corpses that would repulse us if we confronted them in reality.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

His malignity and psychopathology seem to attract followers when these same characteristics should repulse people.

From Salon • Mar. 4, 2024

Troops from South Korea, the United States and other countries under the direction of the United Nations battle to repulse the invasion.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2023

TAIPEI, Taiwan — When Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky called in February for foreign volunteers to help repulse invading Russian forces, Chuang Yu-wei, a Taiwanese tour guide, signed up the next day.

From Washington Post • Jul. 3, 2022

He thought: if there is a repulse, this will be good country to defend.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Related Words

• fend off
• overthrow
• put down
• rebuff
• repel
• resist