affront
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
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to insult, esp openly
-
to offend the pride or dignity of
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obsolete to confront defiantly
Synonym Usage
See insult.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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affrontednessnoun
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affronternoun
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reaffrontnoun
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unaffrontedadjective
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affrontedlyadverb
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affrontinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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affrontsimple
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affrontssimple
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have affrontedperfect
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has affrontedperfect
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am affrontingprogressive
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are affrontingprogressive
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is affrontingprogressive
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have been affrontingperfect progressive
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has been affrontingperfect progressive
Past
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affrontedsimple
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had affrontedperfect
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was affrontingprogressive
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were affrontingprogressive
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had been affrontingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of affront
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English afrounten, from Middle French af(f)ronter “to strike in the face,” from unattested 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
Explanation
An affront is an action that causes offense. If someone blows smoke in your face after you've asked him to put out his cigarette, you would consider it an affront. Affronter was an old French word meaning "to confront" or "slap in the face." It's from the Latin, ad frontem, meaning "to the face." Sure, a slap in the face would still be considered an affront, but other non-physical actions would also count. Some would even call a misplaced apostrophe an affront to the English language. Don't confuse affront with effrontery, which means "presumptuousness."
Vocabulary lists containing affront
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Four
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Our Town
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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.
See Examples For:
For them, the dance floor was not an affront.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Founded the same year Osborn’s Patum Peperium appeared, the magazine took news of the paste’s demise as an almost personal affront.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
His happiness is an affront to their own chronic displeasure.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
State governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri shared photos of himself arriving at the scene, describing the attack as an "affront to our humanity".
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
Wick got his pass back, but he could not easily overlook the affront to his intellectual independence.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Travelers’ affronts in Europe’s tourist zones are sometimes glaringly apparent: pounding music from late-night parties, or puddles of vomit on doorsteps in quiet residential streets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2024
The exploitation of the poor, migrants and women are also described as affronts to human dignity.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2024
Indeed, despite numerous affronts to the patriarchal order, it is the climactic food fight that seems to have most offended Czech government officials.
From New York Times ● Aug. 17, 2022
Toomey, of course, was detailing these affronts in the cool comfort of the Senate.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 2, 2022
Rereworth's letter to Polydore Riches came to revive hope, and to bring oblivion of the affronts and menaces of the morning.
From Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3) A Cornish Story. by Watson, William Davy
"He brings in the female demographic because he is so sexy - but he appeals to men. He's an honest, good, authentic, down-to-earth type of individual. So you don't really get affronted by him."
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
An afterthought if not a redheaded stepchild, though expect affronted fellow media outlets to freak out because of what NBC News once was, not what it is.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
But it wasn’t just Catholics who were affronted.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2026
And all indications are that he is prepared to inflict considerable economic and environmental damage to assuage his affronted pride.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2024
He looks up at me, affronted, almost startled.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
He was a peacock: intent on blinding small people with his brilliance, affronting an older generation he detested and belittling everyone but himself - especially Vivienne.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2022
He added that the imposing structure of his 1881 novel was laid on a “single small cornerstone, the conception of a certain young woman affronting her destiny.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2017
It’s a mildly affronting experience that — as with some other signifiers of the modern world, a child’s noisy video game included — seems to help push him into nature.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2015
The possibilities for gaining some fresh perspectives on popular culture, past and present, seem worth the risk of affronting our conventional biographical expectations.
From Time Magazine Archive
But in his eagerness to secure the alliance of Florence, he committed the fatal mistake of affronting the Venetians.
From Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497 by Ady, Julia Mary Cartwright
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.
