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English
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter (“to insult”)) or its etymon Latin īnsultāre, present active infinitive of īnsultō (“to spring, leap or jump at or upon; to abuse, insult, revile, taunt”), the frequentative form of īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + saliō (“to bound, jump, leap; to spring forth; to flow down”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to spring”)).
The noun is derived from Middle French insult (modern French insulte (“insult”)) or its etymon Late Latin insultus (“insult, reviling, scoffing”), from īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”); see above.
Pronunciation
- Verb:
- Noun:
- Rhymes: -ʌlt
- Hyphenation: in‧sult
Verb
insult (third-person singular simple present insults, present participle insulting, simple past and past participle insulted)
- (transitive) To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).
- Synonyms: disrespect, affront, disgrace, slander, discourtesy, offense
- Antonym: compliment
- Marvel owns your gods!
- Insulting is not arguing.
c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 199, column 2:And why I pray you? who might be your mother
That you inſult, exult, and all at once
Ouer the wretched?
1609, Geo[rge] Chapman, Euthymiæ Raptus; or The Teares of Peace: , London: H L for Rich Bonian, and H. Walley: , →OCLC:The Foe hayles on thy head; and in thy Face / Inſults, and trenches; leaues thee, no worlds grace; / The walles, in which thou art beſieged, ſhake.
1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XLIX. Mr. Belford, to Robert Lovelace, Esq.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: , volume III, London: S Richardson; , →OCLC, page 242:Nor would ſuch a man as thou art be deterr'd, were I to remind thee of the vengeance which thou mayeſt one day expect, if thou inſulteſt a woman of her character, family, and fortune.
1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Second Visit to Smerdyakov”, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Brothers Karamazov , New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published 1922, part IV, book XI (Ivan), page 667:It was a wordy, disconnected, frantic letter, a drunken letter in fact. It was like the talk of a drunken man, who, on his return home, begins with extraordinary heat telling his wife or one of his household how he has just been insulted, what a rascal has just insulted him, what a fine fellow he is on the other hand, and how he will pay that scoundrel out; [...]
- (transitive, also figuratively, obsolete) To assail, assault, or attack; (specifically, military) to carry out an assault, attack, or onset without preparation.
c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 43, column 1, lines 1518–1520:Giue me thy knife, I will inſult on him,
Flattering my ſelfes, as if it were the Moore,
Come hither purpoſely to poyſon me.
1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, page 107, lines 367–370:Not with more madneſs, rolling from afar, / The ſpumy Waves proclaim the watry War. / And mounting upwards, with a mighty Roar, / March onwards, and inſult the rocky ſhoar.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (against or over someone).
1609, “P. R.” [i.e., Robert Persons], “The First Chapter Ansvvering to the First of M. Thomas Mortons Three Vaine Inquiryes, Concerning the Witt, Memorie, Learning, Charitie, Modestie, and Truth of His Aduersarie, P. R.”, in A Qviet and Sober Reckoning vvith M. Thomas Morton Somewhat Set in Choler by His Aduersary P. R. , : , →OCLC, §IIII (Another Vaine Contention Brought by M. Morton about Skill in Logike), page 37:And doe you ſe how he inſulteth ouer me, as though hee had gotten a great aduantage, and how hee taketh heere his reuenge vpon me, for the ſhipwracke hee ſuffered before, in the matter of his ſyllogyſme?
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Against Pouerty and Want, with Such Other Adversity”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 3, member 3, page 273:But be it ſo thou haſt loſt all, poore thou art deiected, in paine of body, griefe of mind, thine enimies inſult ouer thee, thou art as bad as Iob, yet tel me (ſaith Chryſoſtome), was Iob or the Diuell the greater conqueror, ſurely Job, [...]
- (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To leap or trample upon.
c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 150, column 2, lines 389–392:So looks the pent-vp Lyon o're the Wretch, / That trembles vnder his deuouring Pawes: / And ſo he walkes, inſulting o're his Prey, / And ſo he comes, to rend his Limbes aſunder.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (someone)
- Albanian: fyej (sq), shaj (sq)
- Arabic: سَبَّ (ar) (sabba), شَتَمَ (šatama)
- Egyptian Arabic: شتم (šatam)
- Armenian: վիրավորել (hy) (viravorel)
- Azerbaijani: təhqir etmək
- Belarusian: абража́ць impf (abražácʹ), абра́зіць pf (abrázicʹ)
- Bulgarian: оскърбя́вам (bg) impf (oskǎrbjávam), оскърбя́ pf (oskǎrbjá), оби́ждам (bg) impf (obíždam), оби́дя (bg) pf (obídja)
- Catalan: insultar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Hokkien: 無理/无理 (bû-lí)
- Mandarin: 侮辱 (zh) (wǔrǔ)
- Czech: urážet impf, urazit (cs) pf
- Dutch: beledigen (nl)
- Esperanto: insulti
- Finnish: loukata (fi)
- French: insulter (fr)
- Galician: insultar (gl), deostar
- Georgian: შეურაცხყოფა (šeuracxq̇opa)
- German: beleidigen (de)
- Greek: προσβάλλω (el) (prosvállo)
- Ancient: ὑβρίζω (hubrízō)
- Hindi: निन्दा करना (nindā karnā), अपमान करना (apmān karnā)
- Icelandic: skamma
- Irish: maslaigh, tarcaisnigh
- Italian: offendere (it), insultare (it)
- Japanese: 侮辱する (ja) (ぶじょくする, bujoku suru)
- Kabuverdianu: abuza, abuzá
- Khmer: ដៀល (km) (diəl)
- Korean: 모욕하다 (ko) (moyokhada)
- Latin: insultō
- Macedonian: навредува impf (navreduva), навреди pf (navredi)
- Malayalam: അപമാനിക്കുക (ml) (apamānikkuka), നിന്ദിക്കുക (ml) (nindikkuka)
- Maori: whakamanioro, whakaparanga, whakatakao, muhani, muheni
- Mongolian: доромжлох (mn) (doromžlox), гутаах (mn) (gutaax)
- Northern Sami: ciellat
- Norwegian: skjelle ut
- Occitan: insultar (oc)
- Oromo: arrabsuu
- Polish: obrazić (pl) pf, obrażać (pl) impf
- Portuguese: insultar (pt), injuriar (pt)
- Romanian: insulta (ro), jigni (ro)
- Russian: оскорбля́ть (ru) impf (oskorbljátʹ), оскорби́ть (ru) pf (oskorbítʹ), обижа́ть (ru) impf (obižátʹ), оби́деть (ru) pf (obídetʹ)
- Sanskrit: निन्दति (sa) (nindati)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: вре́ђати impf, врије́ђати impf, увре́дити pf, уврије́дити pf
- Roman: vréđati (sh) impf, vrijéđati impf, uvréditi (sh) pf, uvrijéditi (sh) pf
- Slovak: urážať impf, uraziť pf
- Slovene: užaliti pf, žaliti impf
- Spanish: insultar (es)
- Swahili: kutukana
- Swedish: förolämpa (sv)
- Thai: ดูถูก (th) (duu-tùuk), พูดใส่ร้ายคนอื่น, พูดใส่ร้าย, พูดใส่ไม่ดี, พูดไม่ดี, พูดคำไม่ดี คำหยาบคาย เพ้อเจ้อ ไร้สาระ
- Tibetan: དམའ་འབེབ་བྱས (dma' 'beb byas)
- Turkish: aşağılamak (tr), hakaret etmek (tr)
- Ukrainian: обража́ти impf (obražáty), обра́зити pf (obrázyty)
- Urdu: بے عزت کرنا m, ذلیل کرنا m, اہانت کرنا
- Vietnamese: làm nhục (vi), xúc phạm (vi)
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Noun
insult (countable and uncountable, plural insults)
- (uncountable) Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
- Synonyms: affront, (slang) diss, (obsolete) insultation, (Britain) offence, (US) offense, pejorative, (US, colloquial) slam, slight, slur; see also Thesaurus:offense
- Antonym: compliment
a. 1744, Richard Savage, “London and Bristol Delineated”, in Samuel Johnson, The Works of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland. , volume V, Dublin: Printed for J. Moore, , published 1800, →OCLC, page 259, column 2, lines 41–46:Preſent we meet thy ſneaking treacherous ſmiles;
The harmleſs abſent ſtill thy ſneer reviles;
Such as in thee all parts ſuperior find,
The ſneer that marks the fool and knave combin'd;
When melting pity would afford relief
The ruthleſs ſneer that insult adds to grief.
1835, Lt. Col. Baron de Berenger , “Letter XII. On Character Generally, and on Manliness Especially.”, in Helps and Hints How to Protect Life and Property. , London: Published for the proprietor, by T. Hurst, , →OCLC, page 179:[...] I will, however, enjoin you / Never to submit tamely to insults from any one! for, although I strongly urge you to show every possible respect and deference to all who are your superiors, as indeed due to them, I wish you to remember that, should they return you insults for such consistent conduct, it will be manly in you, after having given them a chance, by your calm and dignified remonstrance, to repair the injury, to resent the (by such an omission) enlarged offence, for thereupon no one can blame you if you firmly persevere in your efforts to obtain reparation.
- (countable) Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
- Synonyms: disgrace, outrage
The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.
2011, Thomas Grissom, “A Note to the Reader”, in The Physicist’s World: The Story of Motion and the Limits to Knowledge, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page ix:The story we will share in the pages of this book, you as the reader and I as the author, contains a modicum of mathematics. I have used it sparingly, and judiciously, but to eliminate it altogether would have been dishonest, a form of intellectual deception and condescension, and an insult to your curiosity and intelligence.
- (countable, uncountable, medicine) Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.
1996, Ulf J. Eriksson, “Embryo Development in Diabetic Pregnancy”, in Anne Dornhorst, David R. Hadden, editors, Diabetes and Pregnancy: An International Approach to Diagnosis and Management, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 65:The exact nature of the teratological insult in diabetic pregnancy, and the cell biological details of the induced disturbances, are not known.
2006, Joan Stiles, Pamela Moses, Brianna M. Paul, “The Longitudinal Study of Spatial Cognitive Development in Children with Pre- or Perinatal Focal Brain Injury: ”, in Stephen G. Lomber, Jos J. Eggermont, editors, Reprogramming the Cerebral Cortex: Plasticity following Central and Peripheral Leisons, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 415:[M]ost investigators agreed with the characterization of early brain plasticity as a transiently available, ancillary system that is triggered by neural insult, and that serves, most importantly, as a means of shielding the developing organism from the potentially debilitating effects of neural insult.
2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, “What Cells Can Do”, in The Cell: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions), Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 96:Within the complex genome of most organisms there are alternative multiple pathways of proteins which can help the individual cell survive a variety of insults, for example radiation, toxic chemicals, heat, excessive or reduced oxygen.
- (countable, also figuratively, archaic) An assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.
1697, Virgil, “The Twelfth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, page 590, lines 415–420:Then fir'd with pious Rage, the gen'rous Train / Run madly forward, to revenge the ſlain. / And ſome with eager haſte their Jav'lins throw; / And ſome, with Sword in hand, aſſault the Foe. / The wiſh'd Inſult the Latine Troops embrace; / And meet their Ardour in the middle Space.
1784, “From the Accession of James to the English Crown, to the Battle of Kilrush, in the Reign of Charles I”, in The History of Ireland, from the Earliest Authentic Accounts. , Dublin: Printed for Luke White, , →OCLC, page 226:The government was continually expoſed to the inſults of a faction, and deſtitute of the neceſſary reſources.
- (countable, obsolete) An act of leaping upon.
1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, page 99, lines 99–102:The Bull's Inſult at Four ſhe [the mother cow] may ſuſtain; / But, after Ten, from Nuptial Rites refrain. / Six Seaſons uſe; but then releaſe the Cow, / Unfit for Love, and for the lab'ring Plough.
Derived terms
Translations
action or speech deliberately intended to be rude
- Albanian: please add this translation if you can
- Arabic: إهانة f (ʔihāna)
- Armenian: վիրավորանք (hy) (viravorankʻ)
- Azerbaijani: təhqir (az)
- Belarusian: абра́за f (abráza)
- Bulgarian: оскърбле́ние (bg) n (oskǎrblénie), оби́да (bg) f (obída)
- Catalan: insult (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 侮辱 (zh) (wǔrǔ)
- Czech: urážka (cs) f
- Danish: fornærmelse c
- Dutch: belediging (nl) f
- Esperanto: insulto (eo)
- Estonian: solvang
- Faroese: skemdarorð n
- Finnish: loukkaus (fi), parjaus (fi)
- French: insulte (fr) f
- Galician: insulto (gl) m, deosto m
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: Beleidigung (de) f, Kränkung (de) f, Verletzung (de) f
- Greek: προσβολή (el) f (prosvolí)
- Ancient: λοιδορία f (loidoría), αἰκία f (aikía)
- Hebrew: עלבון (he) m (elbón)
- Hindi: अपमान (hi) m (apmān), तौहीन (hi) f (tauhīn)
- Hungarian: sértés (hu)
- Icelandic: móðgun (is) f
- Irish: achasán m
- Italian: insulto (it) m, offesa (it) f, oltraggio (it) m, affronto (it) m, ingiuria (it) f
- Japanese: 侮辱 (ja) (ぶじょく, bujoku)
- Kabuverdianu: karkuti
- Khmer: ការប្រមាថ (kaa prɑmaat), ផរុសសព្ទ (km) (pʰa’ru’sa’ sap), ឧបក្រោស (km) (u’pa’kraoh)
- Korean: 모욕(侮辱) (ko) (moyok)
- Latin: maledictum n, contumelia f, convicium n
- Macedonian: навреда f (navreda)
- Malayalam: ആക്ഷേപിക്കുക (ml) (ākṣēpikkuka)
- Maori: muhani
- Mongolian: доромжлол (mn) (doromžlol)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: fornærmelse m
- Nynorsk: fornærming f
- Occitan: insult (oc) m
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: обида f (obida)
- Old Gutnish: þunki m
- Old Swedish: þokki m
- Persian: دشنام (fa) (došnâm), توهین (fa) (tohin)
- Polish: zniewaga (pl) f, wyzwisko (pl) n, obraza (pl) f, urąganie (pl) n, awania f (dated)
- Portuguese: insulto (pt) m, ofensa (pt) f
- Romanian: insultă (ro) f, jignire (ro) f, injurie (ro) f
- Russian: оскорбле́ние (ru) n (oskorblénije), оби́да (ru) f (obída)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: у̏вреда f
- Roman: ȕvreda (sh) f
- Slovak: urážka (sk) f
- Slovene: žalitev f
- Spanish: insulto (es) m, ofensa (es) f, improperio (es)
- Swahili: tusi (sw)
- Swedish: förolämpning (sv) c
- Thai: หยาบคาย (th) (yàap-kaai)
- Turkish: hakaret (tr), aşağılama (tr)
- Ukrainian: обра́за (uk) f (obráza)
- Urdu: توہین f (tauhīn)
- Vietnamese: lời xúc phạm
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something that causes offence
something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes
References
- ^ Compare “insult, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1900; “insult, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Compare “insult, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1900; “insult, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
Anagrams
Catalan
Pronunciation
Noun
insult m (plural insults)
- insult
Related terms
Further reading
Romanian
Pronunciation
Verb
insult
- first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of insulta