repulsive
Americanadjective
-
causing repugnance or aversion.
a repulsive mask.
- Synonyms:
- distasteful, offensive, disgusting, loathsome
-
capable of causing repulsion; serving to repulse.
to present enough repulsive force to keep the enemy from daring to attack.
-
tending to drive away or keep at a distance; cold; forbidding.
arrogant, repulsive airs to frighten the timid.
-
Physics. of the nature of or characterized by physical repulsion.
adjective
-
causing or occasioning repugnance; loathsome; disgusting or distasteful
a repulsive sight
-
tending to repel, esp by coldness and discourtesy
-
physics concerned with, producing, or being a repulsion
Other Word Forms
- repulsively adverb
- repulsiveness noun
- self-repulsive adjective
- unrepulsive adjective
- unrepulsively adverb
- unrepulsiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of repulsive
Explanation
If something's repulsive, it's so disgusting you don't want to go near it. You may find rotting meat repulsive, but maggots find it delicious. In the early 17th century, the word repulsive simply meant something that repelled or "pushed away." For example, the like poles of two magnets are repulsive to each other, pushing each other away. Today, repulsive usually means disturbing and sickening. As manners guru Amy Vanderbilt said, "Do not speak of repulsive matters at the table."
Vocabulary lists containing repulsive
Brave New World
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Bridge to Terabithia
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Ireland indicates the uneven power dynamics involved when Leigh, though squirming at the idea, is needled into answering the same repulsive question, settling on Margaret Thatcher.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
The young woman told jurors Thursday she began using Instagram’s built-in beauty filters when she was 9 and soon found her unedited image repulsive.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
“And besides, the idea that a few will survive on Mars, while billions die on Earth is so morally repulsive that any programme foolish enough to adopt it would be doomed,” he wrote.
From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025
It was the latest flare-up involving Tuchel and Bellingham after the England boss was forced to apologise for revealing his mother found some of the midfielder's on-pitch antics "repulsive".
From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025
He shuddered at the thought of their former occupants, the hairs rising on the nape of his neck as he swiftly abandoned the repulsive scene and hurried along the passage.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
