Meaning

adjective offensive to the mind

adjective possessing the ability to repel

adjective so extremely ugly as to be terrifying

originBorrowed from Middle French repulsif, from Medieval Latin repulsivus, from Latin repulsus. By surface analysis, repuls(e) + -ive. Compare typologically Polish odpychający (< pchnąć), Russian отта́лкивающий (ottálkivajuščij) (< толкну́ть (tolknútʹ)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0