affront
a personally offensive act or word; deliberate act or display of disrespect; intentional slight; insult: an affront to the king.
an offense to one's dignity or self-respect.
to offend by an open manifestation of disrespect or insolence: His speech affronted all of us.
to make ashamed or confused; embarrass.
Archaic. to front; face; look on.
Obsolete. to meet or encounter face to face; confront.
Origin of affront
1synonym study For affront
Other words for affront
Other words from affront
- af·front·ed·ly, adverb
- af·front·ed·ness, noun
- af·front·er, noun
- af·front·ing·ly, adverb
- re·af·front, noun, verb (used with object)
- un·af·front·ed, adjective
Words Nearby affront
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use affront in a sentence
The Taliban’s unambiguous and brutal oppression of women was an affront to this emphasis.
Pre-war U.S. support for Afghan women’s rights offers a blueprint for the future | Kelly Shannon | August 24, 2021 | Washington PostHis dealer is a wanna-be slickster who shows up at Rob’s door in a yellow Camaro, his Gucci buckle glinting obviously in the sunlight, an affront to all that is decent and good.
In Pig, Nicolas Cage Plays a Grouchy, Meditative Hermit—and Gives His Best Performance in Years | Stephanie Zacharek | July 15, 2021 | Time“Apple’s recent announcement continues its affront on publishers and the free Internet, under the guise of consumer privacy,” said Aaron McKee, chief technology officer at mobile ad tech vendor Blis.
Marketers fret as Apple’s hardline stance on tracking gets firmer | Seb Joseph | June 10, 2021 | DigidayThe attention economy has lavishly rewarded the Sussexes for talking publicly at great length and in granular detail about their resentment, anger and irritation with the royal family for the many sleights, insults and affronts delivered to them.
Will Harry and Meghan Markle’s Baby Daughter Lead to a Royal Reconciliation? | Tom Sykes | June 6, 2021 | The Daily BeastTo them, the statues were erected to intimidate and threaten, and their continued existence is an affront to freedom and justice.
The campaign to erect Confederate statues — and preserve Confederate values | Joe Heim | May 21, 2021 | Washington Post
He seems peeved that she's gotten old, as if it were a personal affront.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHistorically, conservatives treated the minimum wage as an affront to free labor and a step on a slippery slope towards statism.
To Make Their Victory Durable, the GOP Must Fix the Minimum Wage | Dmitri Mehlhorn | November 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe reality-based community might have a difficult time fending off these two fronts of affront.
This week, Trierweiler, 49, matches that public affront with a statement of her own—in 320 unforgiving pages.
Hollande's Jilted Lover Valerie Trierweiler Tells All | Tracy McNicoll | September 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat had been shrugged off in, say, California, was greeted in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Michigan as an affront.
Pancakes and Pickaninnies: The Saga of ‘Sambo’s,’ The ‘Racist’ Restaurant Chain America Once Loved | Andrew Romano | June 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNot suspecting her motive, he represented the hazard of putting so great an affront on the favourite of the Empress.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterI opposed this, fearing, of course, that the French and even the Gentiles might interpret this as an affront to our faith.
The vote which required the King to discard them merely because they were what he himself was seemed to him a personal affront.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington MacaulayHe was even ready to swallow such an affront as that, thinking it might be offered him under a misconception of his meaning.
Mistress Wilding | Rafael SabatiniThat the very novelty of the venture will pass as an affront to some portion of his readers there is only reason to anticipate.
A Cursory History of Swearing | Julian Sharman
British Dictionary definitions for affront
/ (əˈfrʌnt) /
a deliberate insult
to insult, esp openly
to offend the pride or dignity of
obsolete to confront defiantly
Origin of affront
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse