repel

[ ri-pel ]

/ rɪˈpɛl /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: repel / repelled / repelling on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), re·pelled, re·pel·ling.

to drive or force back (an assailant, invader, etc.).

to thrust back or away.

to resist effectively (an attack, onslaught, etc.).

to keep off or out; fail to mix with: Water and oil repel each other.

to resist the absorption or passage of (water or other liquid): This coat repels rain.

to refuse to have to do with; resist involvement in: to repel temptation.

to refuse to accept or admit; reject: to repel a suggestion.

to discourage the advances of (a person): He repelled me with his harshness.

to cause distaste or aversion in: Their untidy appearance repelled us.

to push back or away by a force, as one body acting upon another (opposed to attract): The north pole of one magnet will repel the north pole of another.

verb (used without object), re·pelled, re·pel·ling.

to act with a force that drives or keeps away something.

to cause distaste or aversion.

OTHER WORDS FOR repel

1 repulse, parry, ward off.

3 withstand, oppose, rebuff.

7 decline, rebuff.

See synonyms for repel on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR repel

1 attract.

See antonyms for repel on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of repel

1350–1400; Middle English repellen<Latin repellere to drive back, equivalent to re-re- + pellere to drive, push; see repulse

OTHER WORDS FROM repel

re·pel·lence, re·pel·len·cy, nounre·pel·ler, nounre·pel·ling·ly, adverbre·pel·ling·ness, noun

non·re·pel·lence, nounnon·re·pel·len·cy, nounnon·re·pel·ler, nounself-re·pel·len·cy, nounun·re·pelled, adjective

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

How to use repel in a sentence

Madison and Monroe ordered cannons to the banks of the river to prepare to repel the next wave of invaders.
In 1814, British forces burned the U.S. Capitol|Joel Achenbach|January 6, 2021|Washington Post
As in any conflict, sometimes the effort to repel an infection can itself be damaging.
Everything to know about allergic reactions to COVID vaccines|Karen Yuan|December 31, 2020|Fortune
In other number news, Vesselin Dimitrov used another well-known bridge — connecting polynomials to power series — to quantify exactly how certain numerical solutions to polynomials work to geometrically repel each other.
The Year in Math and Computer Science|Bill Andrews|December 23, 2020|Quanta Magazine
A water-repelling compound keeps the web from absorbing water.
Why today’s ‘fast fashions’ can be bad for the planet|Kathiann Kowalski|December 10, 2020|Science News For Students

This is what leaves you immunized and ready to repel the real virus if it turns up.
What are the ingredients of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine?|Konstantin Kakaes|December 9, 2020|MIT Technology Review
None of this should be read as anti-male or man-hating, jokes about man-repelling aside.
Cara Delevingne, Ireland Baldwin, and How Sexually Uninhibited Models Are Bucking the Male Gaze|Amanda Marcotte|July 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Harkness saw the last ones vanish as Chet drove down through the repelling area.
Astounding Stories, May, 1931|Various
You hold yourself aloof from your school-mates, repelling every offered familiarity, yet I have seen you weep after such an act.
Alone|Marion Harland
The rebels had exhausted themselves, even, more in their assaults than the Union men had in repelling them.
Si Klegg, Book 2 (of 6)|John McElroy
Years were between; and there was a division of circumstance, more repelling than an abyss or the rush of deep wild waters.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete|George Meredith
Part of this was owing to her education, part to the necessity of repelling sometimes the advances of conceited coxcombs.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 2, August, 1862|Various

British Dictionary definitions for repel

repel

/ (rɪˈpɛl) /

verb -pels, -pelling or -pelled (mainly tr)

to force or drive back (something or somebody, esp an attacker)

(also intr) to produce a feeling of aversion or distaste in (someone or something); be disgusting (to)

to push aside; dismisshe repelled the suggestion as wrong and impossible

to be effective in keeping away, controlling, or resistingan aerosol spray that repels flies

to have no affinity for; fail to mix with or absorbwater and oil repel each other

to disdain to accept (something); turn away from or spurnshe repelled his advances

(also intr) to exert an opposing force on (something)an electric charge repels another charge of the same sign

Derived forms of repel

repeller, noun

Word Origin for repel

C15: from Latin repellere, from re- + pellere to push, drive

undefined repel

See repulse

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

repel

OTHER WORDS FOR repel

OPPOSITES FOR repel

Origin of repel

OTHER WORDS FROM repel

Words related to repel

How to use repel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for repel

Derived forms of repel

Word Origin for repel

undefined repel