repulsive

1. 1.

   offensive to the mind

   “an abhorrent deed”

   “the obscene massacre at Wounded Knee”

   “morally repugnant customs”

   “repulsive behavior”

   “the most repulsive character in recent novels”

   Synonymsabhorrentdetestableobscenerepugnant

   Similaroffensive
2. 2.

   possessing the ability to repel

   “a repulsive force”

   Antonymsattractive

   physics

3. 3.

   so extremely ugly as to be terrifying

   “a hideous scar”

   “a repulsive mask”

   Synonymshideous

   Similarugly

Questions about repulsive

What does repulsive mean?

repulsive means "offensive to the mind". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in repulsive?

repulsive has 3 syllables: re-pul-sive. The stress falls on "pul". In IPA it is /ɹiˈpʌlsɪv/.

What is another word for repulsive?

Close synonyms include abhorrent, detestable, obscene, repugnant, hideous. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of repulsive?

The recorded antonyms are attractive.

Is repulsive a common word?

repulsive is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with repulsive?

2 words rhyme with repulsive. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.