AFFRONTING

Verb

affronting

present participle of affront

Noun

affronting (plural affrontings)

The offering of an affront.

the affrontings of his majesty

Source: Wiktionary


AFFRONT

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

22 April 2025

BRIGHT

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According to Guinness World Records, the largest coffee press is 230 cm (7 ft 6 in) in height and 72 cm (2 ft 4 in) in diameter and was created by Salzillo Tea and Coffee (Spain) in Murcia, Spain, in February 2007. The cafetière consists of a stainless steel container, a filtering piston, and a superior lid.

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