Word Study
repellent
CIDE DICTIONARY
repellent, a. [L. repellens, -entis, p. pr. ].
Driving back; able or tending to repel. [1913 Webster]
repellent, n.
- That which repels. [1913 Webster]
- A remedy to repel from a tumefied part the fluids which render it tumid. Dunglison. [1913 Webster]
- A kind of waterproof cloth. Knight. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
repellent, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 that repels.
2 disgusting, repulsive.
--n. a substance that repels esp. insects etc.
--adj.
1 that repels.
2 disgusting, repulsive.
--n. a substance that repels esp. insects etc.
Derivative
repellence n. repellency n. repellently adv.
Etymology
L repellere (as REPEL)
THESAURUS
repellent
abhorrent, abominable, base, beastly, below contempt, beneath contempt, complaining, contemptible, crude, despicable, detestable, diamagnetic, disagreeable, disgusting, disputatious, disputing, dissentient, dissenting, distasteful, execrable, fetid, forbidding, foul, fractious, fulsome, gross, hateful, heinous, ignoble, invidious, loathsome, malodorous, mephitic, miasmal, miasmic, nasty, nauseating, nauseous, noisome, noncooperative, noxious, objecting, objectionable, obnoxious, obscene, obstructive, odious, of opposite polarity, offensive, on the barricades, proof against, protesting, rebarbative, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, reluctant, renitent, repelling, repugnant, repulsive, resistant, resisting, resistive, retardant, retardative, revolting, revulsive, sickening, stinking, uncongenial, uncooperative, ungenial, unsubmissive, unsympathetic, unyielding, up in arms, vile, withstandingROGET THESAURUS
repellent
Painfulness
N painfulness, trouble, care, trial, affliction, infliction, blow, stroke, burden, load, curse, bitter pill, bitter draught, waters of bitterness, annoyance, grievance, nuisance, vexation, mortification, sickener, bore, bother, pother, hot water, sea of troubles, hornet's nest, plague, pest, cancer, ulcer, sting, thorn, canker, scorpion, dagger, scourge, carking care, canker worm of care, mishap, misfortune, desagrement, esclandre, rub, source of irritation, source of annoyance, wound, open sore, sore subject, skeleton in the closet, thorn in the flesh, thorn in one's side, where the shoe pinches, gall and wormwood, sorry sight, heavy news, provocation, affront, head and front of one's offending, infestation, molestation, malignity, causing pain, hurting, hurtful, painful, dolorific, dolorous, unpleasant, unpleasing, displeasing, disagreeable, unpalatable, bitter, distasteful, uninviting, unwelcome, undesirable, undesired, obnoxious, unacceptable, unpopular, thankless, unsatisfactory, untoward, unlucky, uncomfortable, distressing, afflicting, afflictive, joyless, cheerless, comfortless, dismal, disheartening, depressing, depressive, dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous, woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable, sad, affecting, touching, pathetic, irritating, provoking, stinging, annoying, aggravating, mortifying, galling, unaccommodating, invidious, vexatious, troublesome, tiresome, irksome, wearisome, plaguing, plaguy, awkward, importunate, teasing, pestering, bothering, harassing, worrying, tormenting, carking, intolerable, insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unendurable, past bearing, not to be borne, not to be endured, more than flesh and blood can bear, enough to drive one mad, enough to provoke a saint, enough to make a parson swear, enough to gag a maggot, shocking, terrific, grim, appalling, crushing, dreadful, fearful, frightful, thrilling, tremendous, dire, heart-breaking, heart-rending, heart-wounding, heart-corroding, heart-sickening, harrowing, rending, odious, hateful, execrable, repulsive, repellent, abhorrent, horrid, horrible, horrific, horrifying, offensive, nauseous, nauseating, disgusting, sickening, revolting, nasty, loathsome, loathful, fulsome, vile, hideous, sharp, acute, sore, severe, grave, hard, harsh, cruel, biting, caustic, cutting, corroding, consuming, racking, excruciating, searching, grinding, grating, agonizing, envenomed, catheretic, pyrotic, ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, tragical, desolating, withering, burdensome, onerous, oppressive, cumbrous, cumbersome, painfully, with pain, deuced, Int, hinc illae lachrymae!, surgit amari aliquid, the place being too hot to hold one, the iron entering into the soul, he jests at scars that never felt a wound, I must be cruel only to be kind, what deep wounds ever closed without a scar?.Repulsion
N repulsion, driving from, repulse, abduction, magnetic repulsion, magnetic levitation, antigravity, repelling, repellent, repulsive, abducent, abductive, centripetal, like charges repel, opposite charges attract, like poles repel, opposite poles attract.For further exploring for "repellent" in Webster Dictionary Online