repulsive Definition
re·pul·sive (ri pul′siv)
adjective
- tending to repel
- causing strong dislike or aversion; disgusting; offensive
- characterized by, or having the nature of, repulsion
Etymology: ML repulsivus
repulsive Related Forms
re·pul′·sively adverb
re·pul′·sive·ness noun
repulsive Synonyms
repulsive
modif.
Disgusting
repugnant, odious, forbidding, horrid; see offensive 2.Capable of repelling
resistant, repellent, offensive, unyielding, stubborn, opposing, retaliating, insurgent, counteracting, attacking, counterattacking, defensive, combative, aggressive, pugnacious, obstinate. Antonyms
yielding*, surrendering, capitulating.
repulsive Usage Examples
Preposition: in
way: He sired five illegitimate children by his various housekeepers, despite, it is said, being repulsive in every imaginable way.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
- find: A more holistic view of the human person might well find the idea repulsive.
- break: A gulf is created not just in our families but between us and God. finds breaking faith repulsive.
Modifies a noun
- force: Lone pairs exert a greater repulsive force even than multiple bonds.
- interaction: The crucial point, tho, is that the repulsive interactions between electrons have been left out in the one-electron view.
- character: Des Esseintes is at once one of the most attractive and repulsive characters in literature.
- potential: The latter are supplemented by forces derived from a repulsive pair potential.
- effect: The repulsive effect of multiple bonds will be greater than the repulsive effect of single bonds.
- term: James labeled the sins of those folk in stark, ugly and repulsive terms.
Modifying Another Word
- morally: Had the council not thought hunting to be morally repulsive, the resolution would not have been made.
- utterly: Wherever they were, I was glad that they were nowhere to be seen, as I found them an utterly repulsive vermin.
- physically: Not only is she physically repulsive, she's horribly mean.
- particularly: And yesterday we had a particularly repulsive comment on the last subject from Deputy Prime Minister Seselj.
- so: I am so repulsive that when I look in a mirror I frighten myself.
- often: The unimpassioned account of a mutilated former slave is the ideal narrative vehicle for the passionate and often repulsive material of the story.
Used with adjective complement
- find: He is the first Conservative leader to espouse a doctrine which the Church of England finds entirely repulsive.
- look: To her it looked repulsive, ' like a toad ' .
- become: It became repulsive, criminal, and in the end also generally bankrupt.
- sound: It may sound repulsive, but one look at the place and you'll come over all Barbie and Ken.
Browse dictionary entries near repulsive
- ‹ repulsion
- ‹ repulse
- ‹ repugnant
- ‹ repugnance
- ‹ repugn
- ‹ repudiation
- ‹ repudiated
- ‹ repudiate
- ‹ republish
- ‹ republication

