as in irritating
causing annoyance
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
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Recent Examples of rebarbative
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?
—
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rebarbative
Adjective
-
Crusty eyes can be unsightly and irritating, but there are ways to manage and treat the debris and keep your eyes clean and healthy.—
Laura Schober,
Health,
29 Jan. 2025
-
Try substituting less irritating sodium ascorbate for vitamin C and retinal for retinol or tretinoin.—
Anna Giorgi,
Verywell Health,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
CenturyLink hasn't broken its annoying habit of leaving customers without service for weeks or months and repeatedly failing to show up for repair appointments.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
10 Feb. 2025
-
These evergreen monocultures, originally planted as lumber during the country’s postwar building boom, cause annoying seasonal allergies and dangerous erosion that leads to mudslides.—
Hannah Kirshner,
The Atlantic,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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For the last three weeks, Democrats up and down the seniority list have been stuck playing an especially frustrating game of Whac-a-Mole: smack the outrage of the hour and then race to hit the next one, never quite leveling the field.—
Philip Elliott,
TIME,
14 Feb. 2025
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Unfortunately, the setup process is frustrating compared with the competition, as are the site-building tools.—
Robert Anderson,
PCMAG,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
But even for Ye, his abrupt public embrace of antisemitism and counterintuitive right-wing political rhetoric, resulting in his bringing avowed white nationalist Nick Fuentes to dine with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, has been disturbing.—
Aja Romano,
Vox,
7 Feb. 2025
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Even though Iris prefaced their weekend getaway with a disturbing intrusive thought about a previous boyfriend, her big unhinged moment is ultimately a passive decision to not untie her non-boyfriend.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near rebarbative
Cite this Entry
“Rebarbative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rebarbative. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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