repugnance(noun) – intense disgust

source- https://www.google.com/search?q=repugnance+definition&oq=repugnance+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.7071j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

On page 57 of Quicksand by Nella Larsen it says, “She couldn’t have married him. Gradually,too, there stole into her thoughts of him a curious sensation of repugnance, for which she was at a loss to account.”

The author uses this word to describe Helga’s feelings for James Vayle, the guy she was suppose to marry. She ended up not marrying him because she didn’t love him. I think its important to understand some of the reasons she didn’t marry him.