MEANING
1. So offensive or disgusting that it produces strong dislike or moral rejection.
2. In direct conflict with a principle, belief, rule, or requirement.
3. Hostile or actively opposed to someone or something, in older usage.
Use it for
expressing strong moral disgust; describing behavior that feels deeply offensive; describing a smell or sight that causes disgust; rejecting an idea as deeply objectionableExpresses strong disgust or moral rejection, while keeping the formal incompatibility sense distinct. Writing functions: Disgust and strong rejection.
Words that belong together
- morally repugnant
- repugnant behavior
- a repugnant smell
- find something repugnant
On the page
She found the deliberate humiliation of the apprentices repugnant.
A repugnant smell rose from the stagnant water beneath the floor.
The proposed restriction was repugnant to the charter’s guarantee of open access.
The committee rejected a condition repugnant to the agreement’s requirement of equal treatment.
They remained repugnant to his rule and would swear him no allegiance.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- repugnant
Usage notes
Adjective: a repugnant practice; the practice is repugnant; repugnant to someone or something. Usually expresses a strong, non-gradable judgment. More/most repugnant can occur when explicitly comparing degrees; do not form repugnanter or repugnantest. No noun plural or verb forms. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common in formal writing; less common in everyday conversation (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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