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You may be surprised to learn that rebarbative traces back to the Latin word for "beard" - barba - making it a very distant relative of the English word beard. But there is some sense to the connection. After all, beards may not be repellent, but they can be prickly and scratchy! Another descendant of Latin barba is the English word barb, which can refer to a sharp projection (as found on barbed wire) or a biting critical remark, both of which can discourage others from getting too close.
Synonyms
Examples of rebarbative in a Sentence
there are aspects of that writer's personality that any reasonable person would regard as rebarbative, but we're just reading his novels—not marrying him
Recent Examples on the Web
Why not place a bet on Tala Madani, whose desultory drawing and wildly rebarbative conceits might have the impact at the Met that artists like Matisse once had in Paris?
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Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2023
One wonders why a skinny, rebarbative marionette should be getting so much attention.
—Joan Acocella, The New Yorker, 6 June 2022
But Krugman can also sound like a cross between a bloodthirsty Robespierre and a rebarbative GIF.
—Sebastian Mallaby, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2020
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Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2023
One wonders why a skinny, rebarbative marionette should be getting so much attention.
—Joan Acocella, The New Yorker, 6 June 2022
But Krugman can also sound like a cross between a bloodthirsty Robespierre and a rebarbative GIF.
—Sebastian Mallaby, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2020
Dictionary Entries Near rebarbative
Cite this Entry
“Rebarbative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebarbative. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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