(はんぱつてき)

はんぱつてき
na-adjective
resistant; defiant; repulsive
personalityscience
1. resistant; defiant; oppositional
Describing an attitude or behavior that pushes back against authority, ideas, or pressure.
He took a defiant attitude toward his boss.
Adolescent children tend to become resistant toward their parents.
Citizens showed a resistant reaction to the new policy.
2. repulsive; repelling
Describing a physical or psychological force that pushes things apart or away.
(おな)(きょく)磁石(じしゃく)反発的(はんぱつてき)だ。
Same-polarity magnets are repulsive.
This material has a water-repellent property.
A repulsive force is at work between the two groups.

A na-adjective formed from 反発(はんぱつ) (repulsion; resistance) plus (てき). Sense 1 describes psychological or social resistance, while sense 2 describes physical repulsion. The word 反発(はんぱつ) itself has both meanings, and the adjective inherits them.

Common collocations

Similar words