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insult - 9 dictionary results

in⋅sult

  [v. in-suhlt; n. in-suhlt]
Use insult in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to treat or speak to insolently or with contemptuous rudeness; affront.
2. to affect as an affront; offend or demean.
3. Archaic. to attack; assault.
–verb (used without object)
4. Archaic. to behave with insolent triumph; exult contemptuously (usually fol. by on, upon, or over).
–noun
5. an insolent or contemptuously rude action or remark; affront.
6. something having the effect of an affront: That book is an insult to one's intelligence.
7. Medicine/Medical.
a. an injury or trauma.
b. an agent that inflicts this.
8. Archaic. an attack or assault.
Origin:
1560–70; < L insultāre to jump on, insult, equiv. to in- in- 2 + -sultāre, comb. form of saltāre to jump; see saltant

Related forms:
in⋅sult⋅a⋅ble, adjective
in⋅sult⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. offend, scorn, injure, abuse. 5. offense, outrage. Insult, indignity, affront, slight imply an act that injures another's honor, self-respect, etc. Insult implies such insolence of speech or manner as deeply humiliates or wounds one's feelings and arouses to anger. Indignity is esp. used of inconsiderate, contemptuous treatment toward one entitled to respect. Affront implies open disrespect or offense shown, as it were, to the face. Slight may imply inadvertent indifference or disregard, which may also indicate ill-concealed contempt.

Antonyms:
1, 5. compliment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To insult
in·sult   (ĭn-sŭlt')   
v.   in·sult·ed, in·sult·ing, in·sults

v.   tr.
    1. To treat with gross insensitivity, insolence, or contemptuous rudeness. See Synonyms at offend.
    2. To affront or demean: an absurd speech that insulted the intelligence of the audience.
  2. Obsolete To make an attack on.
v.   intr. Archaic
  1. To behave arrogantly.
  2. To give offense; offend: a speech that was intended to insult.
n.   (ĭn'sŭlt')
  1. An offensive action or remark.
    1. Medicine A bodily injury, irritation, or trauma.
    2. Something that causes bodily injury, irritation, or trauma: "the middle of the Bronx, buffeted and poisoned by the worst environmental insults that urban America can dish out" (William K. Stevens).

[French insulter, from Old French, to assault, from Latin īnsultāre, to leap at, insult, frequentative of īnsilīre, to leap upon : in-, on; see in-2 + salīre, to leap; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]
in·sult'er n., in·sult'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Insult

In"sult\, n. [L. insultus, fr. insilire to leap upon: cf. F. insulte. See Insult, v. t.]

1. The act of leaping on; onset; attack. [Obs.] --Dryden.

2. Gross abuse offered to another, either by word or act; an act or speech of insolence or contempt; an affront; an indignity.

The ruthless sneer that insult adds to grief. --Savage.

Syn: Affront; indignity; abuse; outrage; contumely. See Affront.

Insult

In*sult"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Insulted; p. pr. & vb. n. Insulting.] [F. insulter, L. insultare, freq. fr. insilire to leap into or upon; pref. in- in, on + salire to leap. See Salient.]

1. To leap or trample upon; to make a sudden onset upon. [Obs.] --Shak.

2. To treat with abuse, insolence, indignity, or contempt, by word or action; to abuse; as, to call a man a coward or a liar, or to sneer at him, is to insult him.

Insult

In*sult"\, v. i. 1. To leap or jump.

Give me thy knife, I will insult on him. --Shak.

Like the frogs in the apologue, insulting upon their wooden king. --Jer. Taylor.

2. To behave with insolence; to exult. [Archaic]

The lion being dead, even hares insult. --Daniel.

An unwillingness to insult over their helpless fatuity. --Landor.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : insult
Spanish: insultar,
German: beleidigen,
Japanese: 侮辱する
More Translations »

insult  (v.)
c.1570, "triumph over in an arrogant way," from L. insultare "to assail, to leap upon" (already used by Cicero in sense of "insult, scoff at, revile"), freq. of insilire "leap at or upon," from in- "on, at" + salire "to leap" (see salient). Sense of "to verbally abuse, affront, assail with disrespect" is from 1620. The noun is recorded 1603 in the sense of "attack;" 1671 as "an act of insulting." To add insult to injury translates L. injuriæ contumeliam addere.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: in·sult
Pronunciation: 'in-"s<
Function: noun
1 : injury to the body or one of its parts insults> insult to the constitution of a patient suffering from active tuberculosis —Journal of the American Medical Association>
2 : something that causes or has a potential for causing insult to the body insults> —insult verb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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insult in·sult (ĭn'sŭlt')
n.
A bodily injury, irritation, or trauma.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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insult

see add insult to injury.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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