revulsion
Americannoun
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a strong feeling of repugnance, distaste, or dislike.
Cruelty fills me with revulsion.
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a sudden and violent change of feeling or response in sentiment, taste, etc.
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the act of drawing something back or away.
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the fact of being so drawn.
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Medicine/Medical. the diminution of morbid action in one part of the body by irritation in another.
noun
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a sudden and unpleasant violent reaction in feeling, esp one of extreme loathing
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the act or an instance of drawing back or recoiling from something
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obsolete the diversion of disease or congestion from one part of the body to another by cupping, counterirritants, etc
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
Explanation
Revulsion means an intense, violent, sometimes physical dislike of something. People feel revulsion to different things. You may feel revulsion at the thought of seeing a horror movie, but other people can't wait to be scared by the latest zombie or slasher flick. The noun revulsion comes from the Latin word revellere, meaning to pull away or to pull back. So, if you think of pulling back in horror when someone suggests going on a roller coaster after lunch, you'll remember the definition for revulsion is an intense aversion. Synonyms for revulsion include abhorrence, disgust, horror, and repugnance. After getting the stomach flu after eating raspberries, you now feel a revulsion to anything raspberry flavored.
Vocabulary lists containing revulsion
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Tuck Everlasting
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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.
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
Perhaps the push-pull of the audience’s sympathy with and revulsion at Travis comes from the project’s profoundly personal origins for screenwriter Paul Schrader.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 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
But public revulsion at their attack appears to have forced the criminals to backtrack.
From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025
He felt a stab of revulsion mixed with a bizarre desire to laugh.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
