Repulses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To drive or force something or someone away or back ; to cause a strong feeling of dislike or disgust in someone
2. To repel by strong resistance or force ; to provoke a reaction of intense distaste or revulsion
3. To push back or reject aggressively ; to elicit feelings of horror or disapproval in others

Etymology: "Repulses" is the third-person singular present of "repulse," which means to drive back an attack or, figuratively, to push someone away through strong disgust. The verb traces back to Latin "repellere," meaning "to drive back," built from "re-" (back) and "pellere" (to drive or push). That Latin root also gave English "propel" and "compel," which share the same core idea of forcing something along or together. The English noun "repulse" came first, borrowed from Old French "repulse," which itself came from the Latin "repulsa," a feminine past participle of "repellere" used in the phrase "repulsa petitio," meaning a rejected request. The sense of a military setback, a driving back of an enemy, came naturally from that root. Middle English later borrowed the Latin form "repulsus," and the verb developed from there. The final "e" in the spelling looks odd, but it appears in "pulse" for the same reason: it keeps the ending pronounced as "ls" rather than "lz," and it leaves the vowel unchanged, as in "else," "false," and "convulse."

Synonyms: repels, drives away, rejects, dislodges, bounces back

Antonyms: attracts, welcomes, embraces, invites, accepts