repellent

or re·pel·lant

[ ri-pel-uhnt ]

/ rɪˈpɛl ənt /

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.

Words nearby repellent

repeater, repeating decimal, repeating firearm, repechage, repel, repellent, repent, repentance, repentant, repentigny, repeople

Origin of repellent

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

SYNONYMS FOR repellent

1 repugnant, disgusting, distasteful, loathsome.

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. 2020

Examples from the Web for repellant

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
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
On the contrary, it is about as repellant in looks and disposition as any living creature very well can be.
St. Nicholas Vol. XIII, September, 1886, No. 11|Various
After the flaming day from which we had just come this darkness was repellant.
The Sea and the Jungle|H. M. Tomlinson

The repellant forces that kept him back, are "not far to seek."
The Philosophy of Natural Theology|William Jackson
"If Feodor is not happy, he pays the penalty of having ruled," he returned, his strange unyouthful bitterness most repellant.
The Game and the Candle|Eleanor M. Ingram
With every day the wilderness was becoming more naked and stern and repellant.
Grit A-Plenty|Dillon Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for repellant

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

Medical definitions for repellant

repellent

[ rĭ-pĕl′ənt ]

adj.

Capable of driving off or repelling.

n.

A substance used to drive off or keep away insects.