repugnance

[ ri-puhg-nuhns ]

noun

1. the state of being repugnant.
2. strong distaste, aversion, or objection; antipathy.

   Synonyms: hostility, hatred

   Antonyms: liking, attraction

3. contradictoriness or inconsistency.

   Synonyms: irreconcilability, incompatibility, contrariety

   Antonyms: compatibility

Word History and Origins

Origin of repugnance¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin repugnantia, equivalent to repugn ( āre ) to repugn + -antia -ance

Synonym Study

See dislike.

Example Sentences

A repugnance that can only be described by the word misogyny.

From Washington Post

Moral repugnance arose as a result, which retains little if any connection to the biological origins of disgust.

From Nautilus

Moral repugnance is perhaps the most complicated iteration of disgust.

From Nautilus

Even though Ambuehl says he was thinking about repugnance, he plainly understands disgust.

From Freakonomics

Both of them celebrate repugnance, not for the sake of pushing the envelope but to revel in the base.

From The Daily Beast

With sickening repugnance, I seized the Thing by its two broad shoulders and rolled it over.

From Project Gutenberg

Concealing her repugnance to his advances, she gently but firmly refused him, telling him her duty was to her aged father.

From Project Gutenberg

It is quite remarkable that Jane, apparently, never turned with repugnance from these humble avocations of domestic life.

From Project Gutenberg

When the bill returned to the commons, Mr. Stanley declared that he felt a strong repugnance to this amendment.

From Project Gutenberg

The cause of my delay was a strong, an unjustifiable repugnance to write on a subject so foreign to our ordinary conversations.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aversion