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revulsion

American  
[ri-vuhl-shuhn] / rɪˈvʌl ʃən /

noun

  1. a strong feeling of repugnance, distaste, or dislike.

    Cruelty fills me with revulsion.
    Synonyms:
    aversion, loathing, repulsion, disgust

  2. a sudden and violent change of feeling or response in sentiment, taste, etc.

  3. the act of drawing something back or away.

  4. the fact of being so drawn.

  5. Medicine/Medical. the diminution of morbid action in one part of the body by irritation in another.

revulsion British  
/ rɪˈvʌlʃən /

noun

  1. a sudden and unpleasant violent reaction in feeling, esp one of extreme loathing

  2. the act or an instance of drawing back or recoiling from something

  3. obsolete the diversion of disease or congestion from one part of the body to another by cupping, counterirritants, etc

"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

Other Word Forms

  • revulsionary adjective

Etymology

Origin of revulsion

1535–45; < Latin revulsiōn- (stem of revulsiō ) a tearing away, equivalent to revuls ( us ) (past participle of revellere to tear away, equivalent to re- re- + vellere to pluck) + -iōn- -ion

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.

Several ads trafficked in revulsion as an attention-getter, none more so than this one for a body shaver featuring various clumps of removed body hair singing with their little hairy mouths.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2026

They were placed on remand until December 24 pending further investigations into the incident, which sparked widespread revulsion after the footage was shared on social media.

From Barron's • Dec. 18, 2025

One man, Garfield, has chosen virtue; another, Conkling, has chosen corruption; the third, Guiteau, has no real choice in the matter but keeps an audience teetering between pity and revulsion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

"Any decent person... will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity."

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025

Was this meant to excite me, or was it an unconscious expression of revulsion?

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

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.