Apedia

Rebarbative Beard War Ree Bar Buh Tiv Adjective Irritating Repellent French

Rebarbative is an adjective that means irritating or repellent. Its etymology traces back to French and Latin words associated with a beard, possibly implying something abrasive or off-putting.

Rebarbative is an adjective meaning irritating or repellent, with roots in French and Latin related to a beard or something that repels.

Front rebarbative \ree-BAR-buh-tiv\
Back adjective
Irritating; repellent.

[From French rebarbative (offputting), feminine form of rebarbatif, from rebarber (to be repellent), from barbe (beard), from Latin barba (beard). Are bearded people irritating? While some find a beard on a man attractive, literally speaking it could be like barbed wire - repelling - for others. In fact, the words barb, barber, and beard are derived from the same root as today's word.]

"From cosy Whitelaw to rebarbative Ingham, there are now over a dozen versions of the Thatcher decade by Thatcher's servants." - Catherine Bennett; Tales From the Book Cabinet; The Guardian (London, UK); Oct 1, 1993.

"As Nixon and the boy who would one day become his rebarbative five o'clock shadow both understood, football is simply war by other means." - Bruce Newman; Oliver Stone Goes to War Again, With Cleats On; The New York Times; Nov 14, 1999.

Tags: priorityhigh

Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.

Next card: Abattoir ab-uh-twahr noun slaughterhouse a

Previous card: Bloviate bloh-vee-ayt intransitive verb speak write length pompous

Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary