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.

Nearby words

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.

Related forms

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

Can be confusedrepellent repulsive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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 Formsrepellence 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

Word Origin and History for repellant (1 of 2)

repellent

adj.

also repellant, 1640s, from Latin repellentem (nominative repelens), present participle of repellere (see repel). Originally of medicines (that reduced tumors); meaning "distasteful, disagreeable" first recorded 1797.

Word Origin and History for repellant (1 of 2)

repellent

also repellant, 1660s, "medicine that reduces tumors," from repellent (adj.). As "substance that repels insects," 1908.

Medicine 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.