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repulsive

 [ri-puhl-siv]  

re·pul·sive

   [ri-puhl-siv]
adjective
1.
causing repugnance or aversion: a repulsive mask.
2.
capable of causing repulsion; serving to repulse: to present enough repulsive force to keep the enemy from daring to attack.
3.
tending to drive away or keep at a distance; cold; forbidding: arrogant, repulsive airs to frighten the timid.
4.
Physics. of the nature of or characterized by physical repulsion.
Origin:
1590–1600; repulse + -ive

Related forms
re·pul·sive·ly, adverb
re·pul·sive·ness, noun
self-re·pul·sive, adjective
un·re·pul·sive, adjective
un·re·pul·sive·ly, adverb
EXPAND
un·re·pul·sive·ness, noun
COLLAPSE

Can be confused: repellent, repulsive.

Synonyms
1. loathsome, disgusting, offensive, distasteful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Repulsive is a GRE word you need to know.
So is regale. Does it mean:
drive or force back an assailant, invader
entertain with something that delights
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Collins
World English Dictionary
repulsive (rɪˈpʌlsɪv)
 
—adj
1.  causing or occasioning repugnance; loathsome; disgusting or distasteful: a repulsive sight
2.  tending to repel, esp by coldness and discourtesy
3.  physics concerned with, producing, or being a repulsion
 
re'pulsively
 
—adv
 
re'pulsiveness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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