repellent

or re·pel·lant

[ ri-pel-uhnt ]

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.

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

/ rɪˈpɛlənt /

adjective

1. giving rise to disgust or aversion; distasteful or repulsive
2. driving or forcing away or back; repelling

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

Derived Forms

• reˈpellence, noun
• reˈpellently, adverb

Other Words From

• re·pellent·ly adverb
• inter·re·pellent adjective
• nonre·pellent adjective
• self-re·pellent adjective
• unre·pellent adjective
• unre·pellent·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of repellent¹

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

Example Sentences

He witnessed repellent people spreading images of child sexual exploitation, flooding an affiliated image board so thoroughly that it had to be shut down.

From Washington Post

Down is certainly a good product when used properly, packs down tighter than synthetic insulation, however, despite major advancements in moisture-repellent treatments for down, it’s just not as foolproof.

From Popular-Science

Questions have swirled about how such an important government building, with so many security agencies available to assist, could be overcome by a mob of people wielding bats, bear repellent, and brute force.

From Washington Post

The insects have a hard, water-repellent outer covering called a cuticle, and can typically float on a liquid — and sure enough, the insects floated and fed without a problem.

From Science News

A small strip of a water-repellent material separated the three sections, each treated with proteins to sense a different antibody.

From Science News For Students

Why do you think you were “an asperg-y movie fan…a jabbering repellent acolyte?”

From The Daily Beast

Turning now to blame the American people for that violence is especially repellent for this reason.

From The Daily Beast

This she did (we are not told how), and Beethoven reacted with ‘repellent coldness’.

From The Daily Beast

But nothing seemed to change the fact that the best repellent, for everyone else, was to have me around.

From The Daily Beast

The point is that sexual sleaze is more repellent when everyone can see it up close.

From The Daily Beast

The images and pictures on the outside of the wall were made repellent, to keep strangers aloof.

From Project Gutenberg

He was an exceedingly handsome man of perhaps forty years of age, and yet there was something repellent in his features.

From Project Gutenberg

But Rosa had been too coy to Alfred's evident devotion—almost repellent at seasons.

From Project Gutenberg

It was trim and neat, indeed, and spotlessly clean; but it had the chill, repellent look of an uninhabited apartment.

From Project Gutenberg

They had the curious tattooing on their cheeks, noses and foreheads, so that their appearance was repellent.

From Project Gutenberg