repulsion

American  

[ri-puhl-shuhn] / rɪˈpʌl ʃən /

noun

• repulsions
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• interrepulsion
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• repulsions
  plural

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

See Examples For:

repulsion repulsions

Or they could simply be arresting abstractions in a sculpture that sits aesthetically between formal attraction and repulsion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

At the time, watching these videos didn’t elicit nausea or repulsion in Jemima—they came across as amusing.

From Slate ● May 12, 2026

Polling data backs up this anecdotal display of repulsion towards racist violence.

From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026

When people comment on them, I sometimes can’t tell if it’s out of admiration or a vague yet inquisitive repulsion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025

Their existence had been predicted in 1934 by Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa, who speculated that they carried the force that binds the atomic nucleus together, counteracting the mutual electromagnetic repulsion of its positively charged protons.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Ms. Dixon often seesaws between a work’s attractions and its repulsions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

To minimize lone pair repulsions, the lone pair occupies one of the equatorial positions.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

We can also learn how to get over our repulsions.

From The Verge ● May 9, 2018

Mr. Hastings writes incisively about the attractions and repulsions of the new media gossip.

From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2014

Matter and force in their countless forms, affinities and repulsions produced the living, breathing world.

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 4 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Lectures by Robert Green Ingersoll