repulsion

American  

[ri-puhl-shuhn] / rɪˈpʌl ʃən /

noun

1. the act of repulsing or the state of being repulsed.

2. the feeling of being repelled, as by the thought or presence of something; distaste, repugnance, or aversion.

3. Physics. the force that acts between bodies of like electric charge or magnetic polarity, tending to separate them.

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repulsion British  

/ rɪˈpʌlʃən /

noun

1. a feeling of disgust or aversion

2. physics a force tending to separate two objects, such as the force between two like electric charges or magnetic poles

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Other Word Forms

• interrepulsion
  noun

Etymology

Origin of repulsion

1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Medieval Latin repulsiōn- (stem of Late Latin repulsiō ), equivalent to Latin repuls ( us ) ( see repulse) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Repulsion is getting grossed out. If the thought of great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts makes you recoil in horror, then you've experienced repulsion, or an intense aversion to something. Where there's repulsion, there's disgust. Maybe gagging. Perhaps a few screams. In physics, repulsion describes how two magnets with the same charge jump away from each other, kind of like how most of us leap from the table when mom puts down a plate of Brussels sprouts.

Example Sentences

At its best, it calls to mind such breakdown classics as "Repulsion" and "Keane" and the unflinching psychodramas of John Cassavetes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2016

But Rachel Herz, a smell scientist and author of That's Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion, thinks it can be done.

From Slate • Dec. 27, 2013

Repulsion at the ham’s sickly flesh smell fuelled Jane’s impossible swift acts.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 2, 2012

Both “Star 80″ and “We Need to Talk About Kevin” get the “Michael Powell Peeping Tom” award for Excellence In Service of Repulsion, and both are great films.

From Salon • Jun. 12, 2012

Mr. Alcott said it was Integrity; I, Harmonic being; Lane, Progressive being; Larned, Annihilation of self; Bower, Repulsion of the evil in us.

From Life of Father Hecker by Elliott, Walter