affront

[uh-fruhnt]

See more synonyms for affront on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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

1300–50; Middle English afrounten < Middle French af(f)ronter to strike in the face < Vulgar Latin *affrontāre, derivative of Latin phrase ad frontem at or toward the forehead (as the seat of one's feelings or dignity). See ad-, front

Related formsaf·front·ed·ly, adverbaf·front·ed·ness, nounaf·front·er, nounaf·front·ing·ly, adverbre·af·front, noun, verb (used with object)un·af·front·ed, adjective

Synonyms for affront

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1. impertinence; contumely, scorn; indignity, abuse, outrage. See insult. 3. insult, slight, abuse.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for affront

indignity, provocation, slight, slur, slap, wrong, abuse, outrage, offense, injury, vexation, put-down, brickbat, annoy, criticize, pique, taunt, displease, slander, vex

Examples from the Web for affront

Contemporary Examples of affront

Historically, 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 reality-based community might have a difficult time fending off these two fronts of affront.
No, Stem Cells Don't Cause Autism
Kent Sepkowitz
September 11, 2014
What 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
Rape and sexual assault on college campuses are “an affront to our basic decency and humanity,” President Obama said yesterday.
Breaking the Silence Over Campus Rapes
Emily Shire
January 23, 2014
This affront to common sense and common decency is difficult to defend.
The RNC’s Block-and-Blame Game
John Avlon
May 3, 2013

Historical Examples of affront

It would be an affront to your own judgment, if you did not: For do you not ask my advice?
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
I knocked him down, telling him that it was he that was the savage to affront a lady.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Your coming here is an affront, an impertinence, an audacity.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
If he did not kiss the lilac he was sure to suffer an affront.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola
The young lady would not affront him by refusing to take some syrup.
Doctor Pascal
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for affront

affront

noun

a deliberate insult

verb (tr)

to insult, esp openly
to offend the pride or dignity of
obsolete to confront defiantly

Word Origin for affront

C14: from Old French afronter to strike in the face, from Vulgar Latin affrontāre (unattested), from the Latin phrase ad frontem to the face

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for affront

early 14c., from Old French afronter "to face, confront, to slap in the face" (13c.), from Late Latin affrontare "to strike against," from Latin ad frontem "to the face," from frons (genitive frontis) "forehead" (see front (n.)). Related: Affronted; affronting.

1590s, from affront (v.).