repulsive
Meaning
causing a strong feeling of dislike or disgust; very unpleasant
(physics) relating to a force that pushes objects away from each other
Structure
Usage
the smell from the drain was utterly repulsive.
two like magnetic poles exert a repulsive force on each other.
she found his arrogant manner personally repulsive.
Etymology
the word "repulsive" has a clear lineage from the latin verb pellere, meaning "to drive" or "to strike". its past participle pulsus gave rise to the root "puls-", which is combined with the prefix "re-" (meaning "back" or "away") to form the concept of driving something back. the suffix "-ive", used to form adjectives, was added to create a word describing the quality of driving away. the literal sense of physically pushing back, still used in physics, evolved metaphorically to describe anything so offensive or disgusting that it causes a strong instinctive desire to recoil or be driven away from it.
Analysis
re: latin origin, a prefix meaning "back" or "away". puls: latin origin (from pellere, to drive, push), a root meaning "to drive" or "to push". ive: latin origin (via french), an adjective-forming suffix meaning "tending to" or "having the nature of".