Scunners

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A feeling of aversion or disgust experienced towards someone or something
2. An intense distaste that prompts avoidance or a strong rejection of a person, object, or situation
3. A sentiment characterized by a strong dislike, often leading to an unwillingness to engage or interact

Etymology: "Scunners" is the third-person singular present form of "scunner," used as a verb in the sense of feeling disgust toward something or someone. The verb itself has Scots roots: it was borrowed from Scots "scunner" or "skunner," which came from Old Scots "skunnyr" or "skowner," meaning "to shrink back" or "flinch." That sense of recoiling is the physical heart of the word, and the emotional sense of revulsion grew out of it. Behind the Scots forms lies Middle English "skoneren," meaning "to feel sick or disgusted," so the notion of a bodily recoil and a queasy stomach were tied together from the start. The word's exact origin is uncertain. One proposal is that it is a frequentative of "shun," which would make it a verb built on the same root as "shun" with a repetitive suffix, a sense of repeatedly pulling away. Related Middle English "scurnen," meaning "to flinch," points the same way, and the word may share a family resemblance with "scare" and "scorn," though these connections are not firmly established.

Synonyms: dislikes, aversion, distaste