repulse
/ɹɪˈpʌls/
"repulse" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“repulse” is uncommon English (frequency #50,192 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,192
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To repel or drive back.
Corpus desk
Index EN-repulse · repulse · English
repulse · rank #50,192 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,192
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH resourcefulne…
Nearest frequency peer: resourcefulness (+2 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “repulse”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- regretful
regretful
49,814 corpus weight
- regrouped
regrouped
49,813 corpus weight
- reminiscence
reminiscence
49,812 corpus weight
- repulse
repulse
49,809 corpus weight
- resourceful…
resourcefulness
49,807 corpus weight
- resto
resto
49,806 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “repulse” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | repulse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈpʌls/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #50,192 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “repulse” in English
Rare enough to double-check
repulse is uncommon English at frequency #50,192 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɹɪˈpʌls/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for repulse in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin repulsus, from repellere (“to drive back”), from re- (“back”) + pellere (“to drive”). For spelling, as in pulse, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in pulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compar… The correct English form is repulse, spelled R-E-P-U-L-S-E.
Definition
- 1To repel or drive back.
- 2To reject or rebuff.
- 3To cause revulsion in; to repel.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how repulse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
to repulse an assault; to repulse the enemy
If we fail to repulse the enemy within the gates--unemployment, poverty, disorganized agriculture and the like--from whence may we expect the united strength and clear purpose to repulse any outside force?
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin repulsus, from repellere (“to drive back”), from re- (“back”) + pellere (“to drive”). For spelling, as in pulse, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in pulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compare else, false, convulse.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "repulse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).