repelled

Repelled is the past tense and past participle of the verb repel. It denotes the act of driving back, warding off, or resisting something. In common use, it can describe a defensive action, such as soldiers repelling an attack, a barrier repelling intruders, or a fortress repelling a siege. It can also describe a rejection or aversion, as in being repelled by a smell, a proposal, or a person’s manner.

In physics, repulsion refers to a force that pushes two objects apart. Particles with like electrical charges or like magnetic poles exert repulsive forces on each other, causing them to move away. The term “repelled” is used to describe this interaction, for example, two similarly charged spheres repelled one another according to Coulomb’s law.

In everyday language, “repelled” can describe a feeling of aversion or disgust caused by something. The phrase “I was repelled by” signals a strong negative reaction rather than a neutral dismissal.

Etymology: repelled comes from Old French repeler, from Latin repellere, re- meaning back plus pellere meaning to drive. The word has been used in both literal and figurative senses since the Middle Ages, preserving the idea of driving away or resisting.