repellent

American  

[ri-pel-uhnt] / rɪˈpɛl ənt /

Or repellant

adjective

1. causing distaste or aversion; repulsive.

   Synonyms:

   loathsome, distasteful, disgusting, repugnant

2. forcing or driving back.

3. serving or tending to ward off or drive away.

4. impervious or resistant to something (often used in combination).

   moth-repellant.

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noun

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

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

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

repellent British  

/ rɪˈpɛlənt /

adjective

1. giving rise to disgust or aversion; distasteful or repulsive

2. driving or forcing away or back; repelling

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noun

1. something, esp a chemical substance, that repels

   insect repellent

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

Other Word Forms

• interrepellent adjective
• nonrepellent adjective
• repellence noun
• repellently adverb
• self-repellent adjective
• unrepellent adjective
• unrepellently adverb

Etymology

Origin of repellent

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

Example Sentences

They had no adult actors on set to learn from, and lots of sunscreen and insect repellent was required.

From BBC

Then I sat in my room and felt the liquid slowly drying, getting tighter and tighter, joining with my skin so that my entire face was being transformed into a grime repellent.

From Literature

Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis” asks: What if, overnight, you became “a horrible vermin”—a creature among the most repellent ever to crawl the earth?

From The Wall Street Journal

To the Nolan fanboys, the “Batman” television series’ creators made West carry shark repellent and throw onomatopoeic punches because they didn’t understand what it meant to be Batman.

From Salon

It's that tension of Bunny being both repellent and relatable that gives the story its emotional punch.

From BBC