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Added 9 October 2026

rebarbative

/ɹɪˈbɑːbətɪv/ adjective

Latin root: barba Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about rebarbative at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Serving or tending to repel.
he became rebarbative and prickly and spiteful

Origin

From French rébarbatif, rébarbative (“repellent, disagreeable”), from Middle French rebarber (“to oppose”), ultimately from Latin barba (“beard”), literally “to stand beard to beard against”.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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