Definition of Insult

1. Verb. Treat, mention, or speak to rudely. "The performance is likely to insult Sue"; "The student who had betrayed his classmate was dissed by everyone"

Exact synonyms: Affront, Diss
Generic synonyms: Bruise, Hurt, Injure, Offend, Spite, Wound
Derivative terms: Affront

2. Noun. A rude expression intended to offend or hurt. "They yelled insults at the visiting team"

3. Noun. A deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect. "Turning his back on me was a deliberate insult"
Exact synonyms: Affront
Generic synonyms: Discourtesy, Offence, Offense, Offensive Activity
Specialized synonyms: Indignity, Outrage, Scandalisation, Scandalization
Derivative terms: Affront

Definition of Insult

1. n. The act of leaping on; onset; attack.

2. v. t. To leap or trample upon; to make a sudden onset upon.

3. v. i. To leap or jump.

Definition of Insult

1. Verb. (obsolete intransitive) To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (over, against). (defdate 16th-19th c.) ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To offend (someone) by being rude, insensitive or insolent; to demean or affront (someone). (defdate from 17th c.) ¹

3. Noun. An action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude. ¹

4. Noun. Anything that causes offence/offense by being of an unacceptable quality. ¹

5. Noun. (medicine) Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Insult

1. to treat offensively [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Insult

1. Injury or trauma, attack. Origin: L. Insultus = attack This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Insult

insulinogenic
insulinogogue
insulinoma
insulinomas
insulinomata
insulinopenic
insulinopenic diabetes
insulinotropic
insulins
insulite
insulitis
insuloma
insulous
insulse
insulsity
insult (current term)
insult to injury
insultable
insultathon
insultathons
insultation
insultations
insulted
insulter
insulters
insulteth
insulting
insultingly
insultingness
insultive

Literary usage of Insult

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1839)
"But his spirit was roused at last; the cruel insult to his dead mother had set his blood on fire. His breast heaved, his attitude was erect, his eye bright ..."

2. The Lancet (1842)
"... an additional assault, on the rights of thousands of highly educated and respectable men,—another gross and scandalous insult offered to the profession, ..."

3. The Law of Nations: Or, Principles of the Law of Nature, Applied to the by Emer de Vattel, Joseph Chitty (1883)
"E«rj peter, we ought carefully to avoid every thing which might thinK which wear the appearance of an insult offered to him. Not only J^^ceof does the law ..."

4. Handy-book of Literary Curiosities by William Shepard Walsh (1892)
"The gnat jeeringly said, " You wanted to revenge the sting of a tiny insect with death : what will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury ? ..."

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