as in disgust
a dislike so strong as to cause stomach upset or queasiness
could barely contain her repugnance of frogs and nearly threw up when she found out we'd have to dissect one in science class
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Recent Examples of repugnance
Brianna seems to swing between two moods: intense enthusiasm, intense repugnance.
—
Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
In fact, the retort could lead people to dangerously belittle the scourge and repugnance of real anti-Semitism.
—Salam Fayyad, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2024
The series gets darker and more grotesque as the season progresses, and our uncomfortable laughter eventually fades into a grimace of repugnance.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 July 2023
Though historically dubious, Thirteentherism is rhetorically useful in mobilizing moral repugnance at chattel slavery to protest present-day prison conditions, as if current abuses aren’t sufficient cause for indignation.
—Sean Wilentz, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
News of Donald Trump’s recent soiree at Mar-a-Lago with Nicholas Fuentes, a man whose repugnance stands in inverse relationship to his intellectual capacity, reminds us that the former and perhaps future president’s ability to attain new levels of notoriety remains impressively undimmed.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 28 Nov. 2022
Police in the United States are not supposed to police ideology, and the repugnance of offensive speech, such as Nazi symbols or overtly racist rhetoric, is not relevant to whether it’s protected under the Constitution, said David Siegel, a professor at New England Law | Boston.
—Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2022
Some combination of awe and repugnance and confusion that she’s spent so many of her obviously prodigious talents spinning stories for men who need their stories spun.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2020
The debate still rages, fuelled more by the wisdom of repugnance than by data.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2010
Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
In fact, the retort could lead people to dangerously belittle the scourge and repugnance of real anti-Semitism.
—Salam Fayyad, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2024
The series gets darker and more grotesque as the season progresses, and our uncomfortable laughter eventually fades into a grimace of repugnance.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 July 2023
Though historically dubious, Thirteentherism is rhetorically useful in mobilizing moral repugnance at chattel slavery to protest present-day prison conditions, as if current abuses aren’t sufficient cause for indignation.
—Sean Wilentz, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
News of Donald Trump’s recent soiree at Mar-a-Lago with Nicholas Fuentes, a man whose repugnance stands in inverse relationship to his intellectual capacity, reminds us that the former and perhaps future president’s ability to attain new levels of notoriety remains impressively undimmed.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 28 Nov. 2022
Police in the United States are not supposed to police ideology, and the repugnance of offensive speech, such as Nazi symbols or overtly racist rhetoric, is not relevant to whether it’s protected under the Constitution, said David Siegel, a professor at New England Law | Boston.
—Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2022
Some combination of awe and repugnance and confusion that she’s spent so many of her obviously prodigious talents spinning stories for men who need their stories spun.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2020
The debate still rages, fuelled more by the wisdom of repugnance than by data.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2010
Recent Examples of Synonyms for repugnance
Noun
-
At least one study has found, for example, that younger children will not recoil from rancid odors that provoke disgust in older children and adults, which suggests that these responses might be learned.—
Franklin Schneider,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
-
In Responses from Redditors ranged from disgust to nostalgia.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This is another fatalistic image of the single track on which homosexual desire is condemned to run, love inevitably curdling into hatred.—
Garth Greenwell,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Irish rap trio Kneecap has been banned from entering Canada, with the government accusing the group of allegedly promoting violence and hatred and supporting terrorist groups.—
Stephen Daw,
Billboard,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Or the public’s general distaste for being confronted with tetchy societal issues will still prevail; doom-scrolling should be done on one’s phone at home, not out in the world among other people.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Sep. 2025
-
Cornell students, alumni and other Reddit users have largely expressed their distaste for the incident.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The latter being especially notable in one of the later levels, which is infested by body-horror-type monstrosities, as their screams are genuinely unnerving.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
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Director Tina Romero, the daughter of the father of zombie movies, George Romero, delivers a campy horror-comedy about what happens when an undead outbreak occurs at a drag club party in Brooklyn, as seen in Entertainment Weekly's exclusive trailer reveal.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Repugnance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/repugnance. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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