repulsive
part of speech
adjective (repulsive; more repulsive, most repulsive)
meaning for a pupil
1) Very unpleasant, making you feel sick or disgusted. tree →
2) (science) Pushing away, as with the force between two like magnetic poles; this sense is rare in school, where «repel» is used. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories it describes horrible monsters, smells or behaviour. In everyday life children use it for food or slime they hate. Calling a person repulsive is hurtful. In science «repulsive force» is a push between magnets. Phrases: «a repulsive smell», «utterly repulsive».
examples
- The bin smelt repulsive after a week in the sun. tree →
- The witch had a repulsive laugh. tree →
- Bullying is repulsive behaviour. tree →
- I find cold rice pudding repulsive. tree →
- Like poles of magnets feel a repulsive force. tree →
- The troll's cave was full of repulsive slime. tree →
- Seeing herself thus transformed into so repulsive an object, Medusa fled from her home, never to return. tree →
note
Strong word; «disgusting» is similar. Verb: «repel»; noun: «repulsion». Avoid using it about people's looks — it is unkind.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «repulsive» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.