- 1[usually passive] repulse somebody to make somebody feel disgust or strong dislike synonym repel I was repulsed by the horrible smell. See related entries: Disgust
- 2repulse somebody/something to fight somebody who is attacking you and drive them away synonym repel to repulse an attack/invasion/offensive
- 3repulse somebody/something to refuse to accept somebody’s help, attempts to be friendly, etc. synonym reject Each time I tried to help I was repulsed. She repulsed his advances. Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin repuls- ‘driven back’, from the verb repellere, from re- ‘back’ + pellere ‘to drive’.
repulse
verbBrE BrE//rɪˈpʌls//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈpʌls//
(formal)Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they repulse BrE BrE//rɪˈpʌls//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈpʌls//
he / she / it repulses BrE BrE//rɪˈpʌlsɪz//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈpʌlsɪz//
past simple repulsed BrE BrE//rɪˈpʌlst//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈpʌlst//
past participle repulsed BrE BrE//rɪˈpʌlst//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈpʌlst//
-ing form repulsing BrE BrE//rɪˈpʌlsɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈpʌlsɪŋ//
DisgustCheck pronunciation: repulse
