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Showing results for slap in the face. Search instead for Slap+In+The+Face.
Synonyms

slap in the face

Idioms  

  1. A sharp rebuke or rebuff, as in Being criticized in front of my staff was a real slap in the face, or We thought it quite a slap in the face when they returned our letter unopened. The figurative use of this term, which can also refer to a literal blow, dates from the late 1800s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Speaking outside the High Court in Glasgow afterwards Wylde's sister, Bernadette McCash, described the sentence as "a slap in the face".

From BBC • May 4, 2026

It turns your gift into a slap in the face with a wet fish.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

Instead, they got a slap in the face.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 30, 2025

The decision was a "slap in the face to the people of Epping", said shadow interior minister Chris Philp.

From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025

The words were a slap in the face.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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