insult
Americanverb (used with object)
-
insults,
present (3rd person singular)
-
insulted,
past participle, past
-
insulting
present participle
-
to treat or speak to insolently or with contemptuous rudeness; affront.
- Antonyms:
- compliment
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to affect as an affront; offend or demean.
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Archaic. to attack; assault.
verb (used without object)
-
insults,
present (3rd person singular)
-
insulted,
past participle, past
-
insulting
present participle
noun
-
insults
plural
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an insolent or contemptuously rude action or remark; affront.
- Antonyms:
- compliment
-
something having the effect of an affront.
That book is an insult to one's intelligence.
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Medicine/Medical.
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an injury or trauma.
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an agent that inflicts this.
-
-
Archaic. an attack or assault.
verb
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to treat, mention, or speak to rudely; offend; affront
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obsolete to assault; attack
noun
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an offensive or contemptuous remark or action; affront; slight
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a person or thing producing the effect of an affront
some television is an insult to intelligence
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med an injury or trauma
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to make an unfair or unacceptable situation even worse
Usage
What is an insult? An insult is a rude action or remark meant to harm someone’s reputation or hurt their feelings. Insults come in many forms, often attacking the mental or physical characteristics of someone or something. To insult someone is to offend or demean them, as by making harmful remarks. An insult is also something that has the effect of a harmful remark. For example, you could say that your father telling you how to do something that you know how to do is an insult to your intelligence, even though your father was trying to be helpful rather than insulting. You can feel insulted without someone intentionally being rude because feelings are unplanned reactions, meaning some people find it best to think about whether the insult was intended or not. Insults are sometimes exchanged lightheartedly among friends just for fun. Example: How dare she insult me like that on such an important day!
Synonym Usage
Insult, indignity, affront, slight imply an act that injures another's honor, self-respect, etc. Insult implies such insolence of speech or manner as deeply humiliates or wounds one's feelings and arouses to anger. Indignity is especially used of inconsiderate, contemptuous treatment toward one entitled to respect. Affront implies open disrespect or offense shown, as it were, to the face. Slight may imply inadvertent indifference or disregard, which may also indicate ill-concealed contempt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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insulternoun
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preinsultverb (used with object)
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insultableadjective
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quasi-insultedadjective
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uninsultableadjective
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uninsultedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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insultsimple
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insultssimple
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have insultedperfect
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has insultedperfect
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am insultingprogressive
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are insultingprogressive
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is insultingprogressive
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have been insultingperfect progressive
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has been insultingperfect progressive
Past
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insultedsimple
-
had insultedperfect
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was insultingprogressive
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were insultingprogressive
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had been insultingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of insult
First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin insultāre “to jump on, insult,” equivalent to in- in- 2 + -sultāre, combining form of saltāre “to jump”; see saltant
Explanation
If you insult someone, you have offended that person — either intentionally or unintentionally — through your actions or words. You might insult your host if you refuse to try the dessert he made from pasta, nuts, and chocolate sauce. As a noun, an insult means rude words or actions. If you tell the umpire he needs glasses, then you've made a verbal insult. If, after the umpire calls your team out, you make an obscene gesture in his general direction, you've made another kind of insult. Either insult can potentially get you thrown out of the game.
Vocabulary lists containing insult
English Words Derived from French, List 1
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
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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:
That would be its own kind of insult, and no one worth admiring wants a roster spot handed to him as a gesture.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
It was an insult to say he had milk in his veins.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Not to mention close enough to come up with an insult that really lands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Just a movie that doesn’t insult us for buying a ticket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
“Thank you for the cocoa, but I have better things to do than sit around and let you insult me.”
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
When facing questions from the committee, the tired-looking Patel did a much poorer job than Bondi of flinging insults at senators.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
In the southern port city of Ashdod, the artist behind the mural of Abraham and Szor unleashed a torrent of insults at the filmmakers, who are currently abroad.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Two days later, the G-20 finance ministers’ gathering comes to a close amid a global bond-market selloff, spats over tariffs, public insults and fighting over a group photo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Cameron shoved her head into the American, who pushed back, before they exchanged insults side by side.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Between insults and fits of temper, I said I needed a year to heal myself; then perhaps I could return to their mad world to try to make sense of it.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
My career was insulted, and I was mocked for fumbling around while attempting to juice a pineapple with a woefully inadequate kitchen utensil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
I was there the night President Obama insulted then-businessman Donald Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Police say the brothers insulted a woman during an altercation over loud noise.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Employees have even openly insulted management, external in an internal meeting on the AI-driven changes, according to a report in Wired.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The Kozlov domovoi protected their home, and would destroy things only if he felt insulted somehow.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
The cycle has closed with almost insulting neatness: a new intervention, a new moral vocabulary, a new consumer workaround — and Cartman, once again, looking for a way to change without changing very much.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
In India, emphasizing someone’s status as a widow in a negative way is considered insulting since widows have traditionally been ostracized and seen as carrying bad luck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
According to Human Rights Watch, "several penal code provisions, as well as the cybercrime law, criminalise speech deemed insulting to religion, the emir or foreign leaders".
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb seems to take great delight in insulting you, especially after the politician River was supposed to protect gets hit on the head by a pot of paint and dies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Kind of like a golden retriever, as insulting as that is to Bieber Spier.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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.
