repellent

or re·pel·lant

[ ri-pel-uhnt ]

/ rɪˈpɛl ənt /

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See synonyms for: repellent / repellents on Thesaurus.com

adjective

causing distaste or aversion; repulsive.

forcing or driving back.

serving or tending to ward off or drive away.

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

noun

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

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

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

OTHER WORDS FOR repellent

1 repugnant, disgusting, distasteful, loathsome.

See synonyms for repellent on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of repellent

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

OTHER WORDS FROM repellent

re·pel·lent·ly, adverbin·ter·re·pel·lent, adjectivenon·re·pel·lent, adjectiveself-re·pel·lent, adjective

un·re·pel·lent, adjectiveun·re·pel·lent·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH repellent

repellent , repulsive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use repellent in a sentence

Koplitz seizes the opportunity, and diagnoses the crudeness of the outburst as symptoms of “pussy-repellant serial killers.”
What Women Comedians Want: Yael Kohen’s ‘We Killed’|Allison Yarrow|October 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
People who find hunting repellant will scoff at yet another Republican candidate beloved by the NRA.
Paul Ryan’s Bow-Hunting Bump|Rebecca Dana|August 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Don abandons the mistress thing, which he knows is repellant, his wife tells him so.
‘Mad Men’: Matthew Weiner & Christina Hendricks on ‘The Other Woman,’ Part 1|Jace Lacob|August 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A stuntman in a fire suit, gooey with fire repellant, naturally.
Newsweek Sets Charlie Sheen on Fire|The Daily Beast Video|June 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST

I mean, did you ever meet anybody remotely like the repellant but inspiring Dr. Stone, who is the surgeon at the mission hospital?
A Novel That's the Best Medicine|Tina Brown|February 11, 2009|DAILY BEAST
His voice was harsh and his manner repellant only because Nature had served him the cruel turn of making them so.
In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim|Frances Hodgson Burnett
This rough, repellant man actually paid court to me, served me at table as if I had been his lady.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer
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

giving rise to disgust or aversion; distasteful or repulsive

driving or forcing away or back; repelling

noun Also: repellant

something, esp a chemical substance, that repelsinsect repellent

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

Derived forms of repellent

repellence or repellency, nounrepellently, 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

repellent

or re·pel·lant

OTHER WORDS FOR repellent

Origin of repellent

OTHER WORDS FROM repellent

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH repellent

Words related to repellent

How to use repellent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for repellent

Derived forms of repellent