adj
Meaning 1
Repulsive, inspiring aversion.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The mixture of whey, beetroot juice, and spirulina seems repellent to me.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: aversive
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
repellent
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ɹəˈpɛlənt/
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UK: /ɹɪˈpɛlənt/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: /ɹəˈpɛlənt/
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US: /ɹiˈpɛlənt/
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CMU ARPABET: R IH0 P EH1 L AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Resistant or impervious to something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- All that fabric's supposed to be dust-repellent.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Narrower terms: moisture-repellent, water-repellent
adj
Meaning 3
Tending or able to repel; driving back.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics
Examples
- These particles exercise a-highly repellent force.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A substance or solution used to repel insects, dangerous animals, or other pests.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- None of the mosquito repellents we've tried work.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A substance or treatment for a fabric etc to make it impervious to something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- They applied dirt repellent to the sports car.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Someone or something that repels.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
incapable of absorbing or mixing with
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a water-repellent fabric
- plastic highly resistant to steam and water
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: resistant
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a disgusting smell
- distasteful language
- a loathsome disease
- the idea of eating meat is repellent to me
- revolting food
- a wicked stench
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: disgusting, disgustful, distasteful, foul, loathly, loathsome, repellant, repelling, revolting, skanky, wicked, yucky
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
serving or tending to repel
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he became rebarbative and prickly and spiteful
- I find his obsequiousness repellent
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: rebarbative, repellant
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
the power to repel
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- she knew many repellents to his advances
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: repellant
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: power, powerfulness
noun
Meaning 11
a chemical substance that repels animals
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: repellant
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: compound, chemical compound
Narrower terms: insectifuge, insect repellent, insect repellant
noun
Meaning 12
a compound with which fabrics are treated to repel water
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: repellant
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: compound, chemical compound
History
Etymology
From Latin repellēns. Equivalent to repel + -ent.
Across languages
Translations
43 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: противен (protiven) — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Catalan: repel·lent — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Esperanto: naŭza — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Esperanto: forpuŝema — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Finnish: vastenmielinen — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Finnish: kuvottava — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- French: répulsif — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Italian: ripugnante — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Italian: disgustoso — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Norwegian Bokmål: frastøtende — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Portuguese: repugnante — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Romanian: repulsiv — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Romanian: antipatic — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Russian: отта́лкивающий (ottálkivajuščij) — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Russian: отврати́тельный (otvratítelʹnyj) — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Spanish: repulsivo — repulsive, inspiring aversion
- Bulgarian: непропусклив (nepropuskliv) — resistant or impervious to something
- Finnish: kestävä — resistant or impervious to something
- Finnish: hylkivä — resistant or impervious to something
- Finnish: pitävä — resistant or impervious to something
- Norwegian Bokmål: ugjennomtrengelig — resistant or impervious to something
- Russian: непроницаемый (nepronicajemyj) — resistant or impervious to something
- Spanish: impermeable — resistant or impervious to something
- Bulgarian: отблъскващ (otblǎskvašt) — tending or able to repel
- Catalan: repel·lent — tending or able to repel
- Finnish: vastenmielinen — tending or able to repel
- Finnish: kuvottava — tending or able to repel
- French: répulsif — tending or able to repel
- Galician: repelente — tending or able to repel
- Italian: repellente — tending or able to repel
- Norwegian Bokmål: avstøtende — tending or able to repel
- Portuguese: repelente — tending or able to repel
- Romanian: respingător — tending or able to repel
- Russian: отта́лкивающий (ottálkivajuščij) — tending or able to repel
- Spanish: repelente — tending or able to repel
- Bulgarian: репелент (repelent) — substance used to repel animals
- Czech: repelent — substance used to repel animals
- Finnish: hyönteiskarkote — substance used to repel animals
- Finnish: karkote — substance used to repel animals
- Norwegian Bokmål: insektmiddel — substance used to repel animals
- Norwegian Bokmål: myggmiddel — substance used to repel animals
- Scottish Gaelic: ola ana-chuileag — substance used to repel animals
- Spanish: repelente para insectos — substance used to repel animals
Real reading context