Meaning & use

rebarbative

adjective·Advanced

Causing strong dislike or resistance; unpleasant and off-putting.

See it in a sentence

Critics called the professor's rebarbative manner off-putting to new students.

Despite its rebarbative prose style, the novel remained highly influential among scholars.

A note on using this word

Rebarbative is a rare, highly literary word, mostly found in formal writing about a person's manner or a difficult, unappealing style.

Words with a similar meaning

repellentoff-putting

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

appealing

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