Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🦟 A bug spray 🤢 Very unpleasant 🚫 A force to keep away 💧 A liquid blocker 🧥 Liquid resistant
repellent

repellent

1 4.4
Not letting water or other liquids soak in
  • adjective
  • /rɪˈpɛlənt/
translation icon : repelente al agua
  • This outdoor gear features a repellent coating that prevents moisture from soaking through.
  • water repellent
  • repellent clothing
  • a repellent surface

Since when did Joy Desperate become flame repellent?

Examples

  • Water-repellent fur along the fleece coat is unquestionably the cardigan to own in wintry weather.

    Blog text (3)

  • It is bug repellent.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I think the thing that I'm getting better at though, is being water repellent because it's so rainy.

  • So far, we've been able to extend the effective repellent life to 6 months.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The new jacket is waterrepellent, keeping me dry even in heavy rain.

  • Make sure to choose a repellent fabric for your camping gear to stay comfortable in wet weather.

Synonyms

resistant
vsrepellent
49 3.9

Able to keep working when it meets heat, water, or chemicals

is about preventing penetration rather than tolerating effects without harm
impervious
vsrepellent
28 7.5

Not letting water pass through and not changed by words

focuses on stopping absorption rather than on being unaffected by influence
impermeable
vsrepellent
4 6.6

Not allowing water or air to pass through

is less absolute, allowing some substances to be resisted rather than fully blocked
hydrophobic
vsrepellent
  • Specialized
1 7.7

Not absorbing water so it stays dry

is general resistance to many substances not only to water
nonabsorbable
vsrepellent
  • Specialized
6.1

Not able to be taken in by the body or by materials

focuses on resisting penetration rather than on bodily or material uptake
nonabsorbent
vsrepellent
6.2

A material that does not soak up liquids

is broader, resisting penetration by liquids and gases not only absorption

Antonyms

absorbent
10 3.4

Able to soak up liquid easily

permeable
4 5.8

A material that lets water or air pass through it

Compounds

insect repellent
3 3.2

A spray you put on skin or clothes to keep insects away

water-repellent
1 3.6

Does not let water soak in easily

shark repellent
  • Jargon
7.6

A step a company takes to stop another company from taking it over

How Resistant

impermeable
4 6.6
repellent
1 4.4
resistant
8 3.7
permeable
4 5.8

Surface Forms

repellent positive

Morphology

repellent = repel (transparent) = repel + ent

This adjective directly means 'repelling' or 'tending to repel', so 'water-repellent' or 'repellent to water' is straightforwardly derived from 'repel'.

Etymology

Repellent comes from the Latin parts re- 'back' and pellere 'to drive', so it means 'to drive back'. That's why a repellent surface 'pushes' liquids away and does not let them soak in.