counterattractive

English

Etymology

From counter- +‎ attractive.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkaʊntəɹəˈtɹaktɪv/

Adjective

counterattractive (not comparable)

(rare) Acting as a counterattraction; counterattracting.
- 1876–1939: David Harris, Britain and the Bulgarian Horrors of 1876, page 126 (2007 reprint; Kessinger Publishing, LLC; →ISBN, 9781432501501)
  In the struggle against the influence of such revelations, the counterattractive force of appeals to consider British interests was weakening.
- 1966, William Robert Catton, From animistic to naturalistic sociology, McGraw-Hill, page 285:
  He saw the relations among prices of land, corn, flour, and bread as dependent on “growth of the power of association” which makes “circulation” more rapid “as the attractive and counterattractive forces increase in their intensity.”
- 1984, Ulrich Schneider, Die Londoner Music Hall und ihre Songs, 1850–1920, volume 24, M. Niemeyer, →ISBN, page 75, →ISBN:
  Brian Harrison rechnet in Drink and the Victorians die MH zurecht zu den “counterattractive influences which fostered sobriety during the 19th Century”¹⁰⁰ und betont wie schon die MH-Manager, daß die MH keine rein männliche Domäne war wie das Pub, sondern Familienunterhaltung bot und damit eine wichtige Forderung der Temperenzler erfüllte.
- 2002, Mark A. Noll, editor, God and Mammon: Protestants, money, and the market, 1790–1860, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 109, →ISBN:
  As John Rule has observed, in this context Methodism must be considered a counterattractive, as well as a counteractive, force, for it provided its own alternative, “improving,” “respectable” recreations, which were assimilated into the calendars of local society.⁵⁵

Related terms

References

^ English Word-formation by Laurie Bauer (1983; Cambridge University Press; →ISBN, 9780521284929); § 7.4.2.7 — “An outline of English word-formation”: “Prefixation”: Class-maintaining prefixes: Prefixes added to nouns, verbs and adjectives; page 220
counter- Marchand (1969: § 3.13) notes this prefix as being used with nouns and verbs with the occasional deverbal adjective. Recent examples, however, also include adjectives. Recent examples on a nominal base are counterculture, countereffect, counterstrike; on a verbal base counterdemonstrate; on an adjectival base counterattractive, counterintuitive, counterproductive. The prefix still seems to be extremely productive.

[EWF-1] English Word-formation by Laurie Bauer (1983; Cambridge University Press; →ISBN, 9780521284929); § 7.4.2.7 — “An outline of English word-formation”: “Prefixation”: Class-maintaining prefixes: Prefixes added to nouns, verbs and adjectives; page 220
counter- Marchand (1969: § 3.13) notes this prefix as being used with nouns and verbs with the occasional deverbal adjective. Recent examples, however, also include adjectives. Recent examples on a nominal base are counterculture, countereffect, counterstrike; on a verbal base counterdemonstrate; on an adjectival base counterattractive, counterintuitive, counterproductive. The prefix still seems to be extremely productive.

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