AFFRONT

insult, affront

(noun) a deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect; “turning his back on me was a deliberate insult”

diss, insult, affront

(verb) treat, mention, or speak to rudely; “He insulted her with his rude remarks”; “the student who had betrayed his classmate was dissed by everyone”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

affront (third-person singular simple present affronts, present participle affronting, simple past and past participle affronted)

To insult intentionally, especially openly.

To meet defiantly; to confront.

(obsolete) To meet or encounter face to face.

Synonyms

• See also offend

Noun

affront (plural affronts)

An open or intentional offense, slight, or insult.

(obsolete) A hostile encounter or meeting.

Synonyms

• See also offense

Source: Wiktionary


Af*front", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Affronted; p. pr. & vb. n. Affronting.] Etym: [OF. afronter, F. affronter, to confront, LL. affrontare to strike against, fr. L. ad + frons forehead, front. See Front.]

1. To front; to face in position; to meet or encounter face to face. [Obs.] All the sea-coasts do affront the Levant. Holland. That he, as 't were by accident, may here Affront Ophelia. Shak.

2. To face in defiance; to confront; as, to confront; as, to affront death; hence, to meet in hostile encounter. [Archaic]

3. To offend by some manifestation of disrespect; to insult to the face by demeanor or language; to treat with marked incivility. How can any one imagine that the fathers would have dared to affront the wife of Aurelius Addison.

Syn.

– TO insult; abuse; outrage; wound; illtreat; slight; defy; offend; provoke; pique; nettle.

Af*front", n. Etym: [Cf. F. affront, fr. affronter.]

1. An encounter either friendly or hostile. [Obs.] I walked about, admired of all, and dreaded On hostile ground, none daring my affront. Milton.

2. Contemptuous or rude treatment which excites or justifies resentment; marked disrespect; a purposed indignity; insult. Offering an affront to our understanding. Addison.

3. An offense to one's self-respect; shame. Arbuthnot.

Syn.

– Affront, Insult, Outrage. An affront is a designed mark of disrespect, usually in the presence of others. An insult is a personal attack either by words or actions, designed to humiliate or degrade. An outrage is an act of extreme and violent insult or abuse. An affront piques and mortifies; an insult irritates and provokes; an outrage wounds and injures. Captious persons construe every innocent freedom into an affront. When people are in a state of animosity, they seek opportunities of offering each other insults. Intoxication or violent passion impels men to the commission of outrages. Crabb.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

8 February 2025

STATE

(noun) the group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state; “the state has lowered its income tax”


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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