repugnancy
/ɹɪˈpʌɡnənsi/
repugnancy noun: the quality of being repugnant: offensiveness, repulsion.
Noun
repugnancy (countable and uncountable, plural repugnancies)
- The quality of being repugnant: offensiveness, repulsion.
- […] howsoever nature dictates, that government is necessary for the safety of the society, yet every singular person, by corruption and selfe-love, hath a naturall aversenesse and repugnancie to submit to any; every man would be a King himselfe […]1644, Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex, London: John Field, Quest. VIII, page 49
- If you be carved with any thing […] which you do not like, conceal (as much as in you lieth) your repugnancies, and receive it however: And though your disgust many times is invincible, and it would be insufferable tyranny to require you should eat what your stomach nauseates; yet it will shew your...1673, Hannah Woolley, “Some choice Observations for a Gentlewomans Behaviour at Table”, in The Gentlewomans Companion, London: Dorman Newman, page 70
- The quality of being repugnant: (logical) opposition, contradiction, incompatibility.
- For if the paralleles be of this nature, that howe muche the nearer we are th’equinoctiall, so muche the greater is the heate: and howe muche the furder remoued from th’equinoctiall, so muche the colder the qualitie of the aire is: there must seme a manifest repugnancie, betwixt Auicenne, & the...1559, William Cuningham, The Cosmographical Glasse, Book 2
- […] this Notion is the Source from whence do ſpring, all thoſe Amuſing Geometrical Paradoxes, which have ſuch a direct Repugnancy to the plain, common Senſe of Mankind, and are admitted with ſo much Reluctance, into a Mind not yet debauched by Learning: […]1710, George Berkeley, “Of the Principles of Human Knowledge”, in A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. […], Dublin: […] Aaron Rhames, for Jeremy [i.e., Jeremiah] Pepyat, […]...
- Resistance, fighting back.
- Why do fond men expoſe themſelues to Battell,
And not endure all threats? Sleep vpon’t,
And let the Foes quietly cut their Throats
Without repugnancy?c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Why do fond men expoſe themſelues to Battell,
repugnancy meaning in Tamil
repugnancy in Tamil
- எதிர் முரண்பாடு, சட்ட முரண்நிலை
Examples of repugnancy in a sentence
- Even Pennant, with all his repugnancy to the toad, could not be induced to favour the popular belief in its poisonous character.1893, Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, “The Common Toad”, in Our Reptiles and Batrachians, London: W.H. Allen, page 118:
- The first man, Adam, experienced no kind of repugnancy between the divine justice and the divine mercy.1773, William Hazlitt, An Essay on the Justice of God, London: J. Johnson, page 16:
Forms of repugnancy
| plural | repugnancies |
|---|
Origin of repugnancy
From Middle English repugnancie, from Latin repugnantia. By surface analysis, repugnant + -cy. Doublet of repugnance.
Questions about repugnancy
- What does repugnancy mean?
- Repugnancy means the quality of being repugnant: offensiveness, repulsion.
- What is repugnancy in Tamil?
- Repugnancy in Tamil is எதிர் முரண்பாடு, சட்ட முரண்நிலை. See Repugnancy meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use repugnancy in a sentence?
- Even Pennant, with all his repugnancy to the toad, could not be induced to favour the popular belief in its poisonous character.
- What part of speech is repugnancy?
- Repugnancy is a noun.
- How do you pronounce repugnancy?
- Repugnancy is pronounced /ɹɪˈpʌɡnənsi/.
- What is the plural of repugnancy?
- The plural of repugnancy is repugnancies.
Words near repugnancy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: repugnancy (page history and authors); repugnancy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “repugnancy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/repugnancy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.