Nearby Words

Affronting

[uh-fruhnt] Origin

af·front

[uh-fruhnt]
noun
1.
a personally offensive act or word; deliberate act or display of disrespect; intentional slight; insult: an affront to the king.
2.
an offense to one's dignity or self-respect.
verb (used with object)
3.
to offend by an open manifestation of disrespect or insolence: His speech affronted all of us.
4.
to make ashamed or confused; embarrass.
5.
Archaic. to front; face; look on.
6.
Obsolete. to meet or encounter face to face; confront.

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Affronting is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English afrounten < Middle French af(f)ronter to strike in the face < Vulgar Latin *affrontāre, derivative of Latin phrase ad frontem at or toward the forehead (as the seat of one's feelings or dignity). See ad-, front

af·front·ed·ly, adverb
af·front·ed·ness, noun
af·front·er, noun
af·front·ing·ly, adverb
re·af·front, noun, verb (used with object)
EXPAND
un·af·front·ed, adjective
COLLAPSE


1. impertinence; contumely, scorn; indignity, abuse, outrage. See insult. 3. insult, slight, abuse.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Affronting
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

affront
early 14c., from O.Fr. afronter "to face, confront," lit. "to strike on the forehead," from L.L. affrontare "to strike against," from L. ad frontem "to the face," from frons (gen. frontis) "forehead." The noun is c.1600, from the verb.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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