repulsive
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
extremely unpleasant or disgusting to your senses or your mind.
arousing intense distaste, aversion, or disgust.
Simple“The smell coming from the old bin was absolutely repulsive.”
In context“The critic found the film's gratuitous violence utterly repulsive, arguing that it served no narrative purpose other than to shock the audience.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
a force that pushes two objects away from each other.
relating to a force between two bodies of the same charge or magnetism that tends to push them apart.
Simple“Magnets with the same poles have a repulsive force and push apart.”
In context“The experiment demonstrated how the repulsive electrostatic forces between the particles prevented them from clumping together in the solution.”
SynonymsrepellingAntonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
behaving in a cold or unfriendly way that makes people want to stay away.
characterised by a cold, forbidding, or aloof manner that discourages social interaction.
Simple“He had a repulsive manner that made it hard for anyone to like him.”
In context“Despite his brilliance, the professor maintained a repulsive exterior, rarely engaging in the casual pleasantries expected by his colleagues.”
SynonymsAntonyms
“Dark matter is thought to act as a kind of gravitational glue, while dark energy is believed to be a repulsive force driving the universe's expansion.”
Borrowed from Middle French repulsif, from Medieval Latin repulsivus, from Latin repulsus. By surface analysis, repuls(e) + -ive. Compare typologically Polish odpychający (< pchnąć), Russian отта́лкивающий (ottálkivajuščij) (< толкну́ть (tolknútʹ)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.