English Reference
Noun

revulsion

n. uncountable
C2 Proficiency US /ɹiˈvəɫʃən/ UK /ɹɪvˈʌlʃən/ re·vul·sion UK spelling revulsions Medicine

n.a strong feeling of disgust or horror. You feel this when you see or hear something that is very unpleasant or wrong.

n.a strong feeling of disgust, horror, or intense aversion. Often used in medical or psychological contexts to describe a visceral reaction to something offensive.


SIMPLE

The smell of the rotting food caused a wave of revulsion.

CONTEXTUAL

The graphic nature of the crime scene left the witnesses in a state of total revulsion.

COMPLEX

The public's revulsion toward the candidate's policies grew as more evidence of his unethical behavior surfaced during the investigation.

Many people “have a deep revulsion to being recorded without their consent, which is understandable,” and that remains “the biggest problem with these glasses,” Quintin said.

Ars Technica· 21 Aug 2026

Announcing France’s sanctions against Ben-Gvir on Wednesday, the French foreign, minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said what was happening on the West Bank was “ utterly disgraceful and should fill us all with revulsion”.

The Guardian· 21 Aug 2026

Partly from Middle French révulsion and partly from Latin revulsiō.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin revulsiō
Level C2 · Proficiency
Frequency Occasional
Updated