- rebarbative
- adjective Etymology: French rébarbatif, from Middle French, from rebarber to be repellent, from re- + barbe beard, from Latin barba — more at beard Date: 1892 repellent, irritating • rebarbatively adverb
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
rebarbative
Look at other dictionaries:
rebarbative — (adj.) 1885, from Fr. rébarbatif (14c.), from barbe beard … Etymology dictionary
rebarbative — ► ADJECTIVE formal ▪ unattractive and objectionable. ORIGIN French rébarbatif, from Old French se rebarber face each other beard to beard (i.e. aggressively) … English terms dictionary
rebarbative — [ri bär′bə tiv] adj. [Fr rébarbatif < MFr < (se) rebarber, to resist, earlier to face (the enemy), lit., to face beard to beard < barbe, beard < L barba] repellent, unattractive, forbidding, grim, etc … English World dictionary
rébarbative — ● rébarbatif, rébarbative adjectif (ancien français rebarber, faire face) Se dit d une attitude rude et rebutante ; revêche. Qui manque d attrait, ennuyeux : Un sujet de narration rébarbatif. ● rébarbatif, rébarbative (synonymes) adjectif (ancien … Encyclopédie Universelle
rebarbative — adjective /ɹɪ̶ˈbɑːbətɪv,ɻəˈbɑɻbədɪv/ irritating, repellent I know there are few things more rebarbative than parents who insist, usually against all the evidence, that their children are the bees’ knees, but something seems to have turned out… … Wiktionary
rebarbative — adjective formal very unattractive or offensive: Karajan has been subject to rebarbative questioning and criticism … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
rebarbative — /rəˈbabətɪv/ (say ruh bahbuhtiv) adjective unattractive; fearsome or repellent: *a depressed show run by two rebarbative Europeans, Mordecai Havachat and Habbakuk Chuckablue. –david foster, 1981. {French rébarbatif, from Old French (se)rebarber… …
rebarbative — /ree bahr beuh tiv/, adj. causing annoyance, irritation, or aversion; repellent. [1890 95; < F, fem. of rébarbatif, deriv. of rébarber to be unattractive, equiv. to ré RE + barbe beard ( < L barba) + atif ATIVE] * * * … Universalium
rebarbative — Synonyms and related words: abhorrent, abominable, bad, barfy, base, beastly, below contempt, beneath contempt, brackish, cloying, contemptible, crude, despicable, detestable, disgusting, execrable, fetid, forbidding, foul, fulsome, gross,… … Moby Thesaurus
rebarbative — [rɪ bα:bətɪv] adjective formal unattractive and objectionable. Origin C19: from Fr. rébarbatif, ive, from OFr. se rebarber face each other aggressively (lit. beard to beard ), from barbe beard … English new terms dictionary
