resistant
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
characterized by or showing resistance; resisting
-
-
impervious to the action of corrosive substances, heat, etc
a highly resistant surface
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( in combination )
a heat-resistant surface
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noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of resistant
1590–1600; < Middle French resistant, present participle of resister to resist; see -ant
Explanation
Being resistant means to be immune or impervious to something. A vest that's resistant to bullets is bullet-proof. Anything resistant has a certain power — specifically, the power to resist or fight off — something else. This word is often used medically, like when someone is resistant to a virus: that means they can't get the virus. You can also be resistant to someone's jokes, meaning they can't make you laugh. A raincoat should be resistant to water. If it's not resistant, that's a pretty bad raincoat. All resistant things are like a shield that something can't get through.
Vocabulary lists containing resistant
"Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson
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Content Summary 4.2: Columbian Exchange and Atlantic Slavery
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"Roller Girl" by Victoria Jamieson
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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.
Even 254SMO super stainless steel, considered a benchmark chromium based corrosion resistant alloy with excellent resistance to pitting in seawater, faces this problem.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
"This is Marfona, which is meant to be a drought resistant variety," Collins said.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Adapt or fail" is Ambrositsch's stark conclusion, which has led her to plant different varieties more resistant to the heat, and to change how she treats the soil.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
One wanted to know how to modify the measles virus to make an outbreak resistant to the measles vaccine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
A culture showed that the bacilli from his body were resistant to all four of the drugs he’d been given, and to one other first-line antibiotic as well.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
