revolting
Americanadjective
-
causing revulsion; nauseating, disgusting, or repulsive
-
informal unpleasant or nasty
that dress is revolting
Other Word Forms
- nonrevolting adjective
- nonrevoltingly adverb
- revoltingly adverb
- unrevolting adjective
Etymology
Origin of revolting
Explanation
Something revolting is disgusting or distasteful; it turns your stomach and can offend your senses. Things that are revolting are physically upsetting, like finding hair in your soup or stepping in dog poop. Eating spoiled food is revolting. Also, revolting things can be less physical. Learning that a friend lied to you is revolting. Corruption in government is revolting. Injustice is revolting. Many people find obscenity revolting. If it offends, disgusts, or upsets you, it's revolting.
Vocabulary lists containing revolting
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Ugh! Synonyms for "Gross"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I think it may be the single most revolting pedicure in the history of film.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Maybe it was the underbelly of all of the bravado and power-seeking—some desire to counter all the validation with the humiliation of knowing that, deep down, he’s just a revolting little worm.
From Slate • Apr. 15, 2026
Or at least the failure would be glorious, if it weren’t so revolting at the same time.
From Salon • Feb. 1, 2026
Speaking ahead of his meeting with Trump, Sir Keir described "images of starving children" in Gaza as "revolting".
From BBC • Jul. 28, 2025
In the east, the Soviets have retaken Minsk; the Polish Home Army is revolting in Warsaw; a few newspapers have become bold enough to suggest that the tide has turned.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
