Adjacent Words

Insult definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IN'SULT, n. [L. insultus, from insilio, to leap on; in and salio, to leap.]
1. The act of leaping on. [Little used.]
2. Any gross abuse offered to another, either by words or actions; act or speech of insolence or contempt.
The ruthless sneer that insult adds to grief.
INSULT', v.t. [L. insulto. See the Noun.]
To treat with gross abuse, insolence or contempt, by words or actions; as, to call a man a coward or a liar, or to sneer at him, is to insult him.
To insult over, to triumph over with insolence and contempt.
INSULT', v.i. To behave with insolent triumph.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a rude expression intended to offend or hurt; "when a student made a stupid mistake he spared them no abuse"; "they yelled insults at the visiting team" [syn: abuse, insult, revilement, contumely, vilification]
2: a deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect; "turning his back on me was a deliberate insult" [syn: insult, affront] v
1: treat, mention, or speak to rudely; "He insulted her with his rude remarks"; "the student who had betrayed his classmate was dissed by everyone" [syn: diss, insult, affront]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French insulter, from Latin insultare, literally, to spring upon, from in- + saltare to leap — more at saltation Date: 1540 intransitive verb archaic to behave with pride or arrogance ; vaunt transitive verb to treat with insolence, indignity, or contempt ; affront; also to affect offensively or damagingly <doggerel that insults the reader's intelligence> Synonyms: see offend • insulter noun • insultingly adverb II. noun Date: 1671 1. a gross indignity 2. injury to the body or one of its parts; also something that causes or has a potential for causing such insult <pollution and other environmental insults>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 speak to or treat with scornful abuse or indignity. 2 offend the self-respect or modesty of. --n. 1 an insulting remark or action. 2 colloq. something so worthless or contemptible as to be offensive. 3 Med. a an agent causing damage to the body. b such damage. Derivatives: insulter n. insultingly adv. Etymology: F insulte or L insultare (as IN-(2), saltare frequent. of salire salt- leap)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(insulted) 1. If someone insults you, they say or do something that is rude or offensive. I did not mean to insult you... VERB: V n • insulted I would be a bit insulted if he said anything like that. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ 2. An insult is a rude remark, or something a person says or does which insults you. Their behaviour was an insult to the people they represent... N-COUNT: oft N to n 3. You say to add insult to injury when mentioning an action or fact that makes an unfair or unacceptable situation even worse. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with cl

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Affront, offence, indignity, outrage, abuse, contumely. II. v. a. Affront, offend, abuse, treat with insolence, offer an indignity to, show or display insolence toward, commit an indignity upon.

Moby Thesaurus

abase, abuse, affront, airs, arrogance, asperse, aspersion, atrocity, barb, be above, be contemptuous of, brickbat, call names, care nothing for, clannishness, cliquishness, contemn, contempt, contemptuousness, contumely, cut, debase, defamation, defame, degrade, deride, despise, despite, dig, discourtesy, disdain, disdainfulness, disgrace, dishonor, disoblige, disparage, disparagement, disprize, dump, dump on, enormity, exclusiveness, feel contempt for, feel superior to, fleer, fleer at, flout, flouting, gibe, gibe at, gird, give offense to, hauteur, hold beneath one, hold cheap, hold in contempt, humble, humiliate, humiliation, hurl a brickbat, ignominy, indignity, injure, injury, insolence, invective, jeer, jeer at, jeering, jibe at, libel, look down upon, misprize, mock, mockery, obloquy, offend, offense, opprobrium, outrage, put down, put-down, rank low, ridicule, rump, scoff, scoff at, scorn, scornfulness, scurrility, set at naught, shame, slander, slap, slight, slur, sneer, sneer at, sneeze at, sniff at, sniffiness, snobbishness, snootiness, snort at, snottiness, sovereign contempt, superciliousness, taunt, think nothing of, toploftiness, treat with indignity, uncomplimentary remark, vituperation