- To drive back; repel.
- To rebuff or reject with rudeness, coldness, or denial.
- Usage Problem. To cause repugnance or distaste in.
- The act of repulsing or the state of being repulsed.
- Rejection; refusal.
[Middle English repulsen, from Latin repellere, repuls-. See repel.]
repulser re·puls'er n.USAGE NOTE A number of critics have maintained that repulse should only be used to mean “to drive away, spurn,” as in He rudely repulsed their overtures, and not to mean “to cause repulsion in,” as in Their hypocrisy repulsed me. In recent years, however, there has been an increasing tendency to use repulse in the latter sense. Reputable literary precedent exists for this usage, and given that the stigmatized use of repulse is parallel to the unexceptionable uses of repulsion and repulsive, the frequency of its appearance is not surprising. Still, writers who want to avoid repulse may choose repel, a synonym that is perfectly acceptable.
