affront

Definitions

1. 1.To face in defiance; to confront; as, to confront; as, to affront death; hence, to meet in hostile encounter. [Archaic]
2. 2.To offend by some manifestation of disrespect; to insult to the face by demeanor or language; to treat with marked incivility. How can any one imagine that the fathers would have dared to affront the wife of Aurelius Addison.
3. 3.An encounter either friendly or hostile. [Obs.] I walked about, admired of all, and dreaded On hostile ground, none daring my affront. Milton.
4. 4.Contemptuous or rude treatment which excites or justifies resentment; marked disrespect; a purposed indignity; insult. Offering an affront to our understanding. Addison.
5. 5.An offense to one's self-respect; shame. Arbuthnot. An affront is a designed mark of disrespect, usually in the presence of others. An insult is a personal attack either by words or actions, designed to humiliate or degrade. An outrage is an act of extreme and violent insult or abuse. An affront piques and mortifies; an insult irritates and provokes; an outrage wounds and injures. Captious persons construe every innocent freedom into an affront. When people are in a state of animosity, they seek opportunities of offering each other insults. Intoxication or violent passion impels men to the commission of outrages. Crabb.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "affront" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is affront.

• What is to face in defiance; to confront; as, to confront; as, to affront death; hence, to meet in hostile encounter. [Archaic] called?
• What is an encounter either friendly or hostile. [Obs.] I walked about, admired of all, and dreaded On hostile ground, none daring my affront. Milton called?
• What is contemptuous or rude treatment which excites or justifies resentment; marked disrespect; a purposed indignity; insult. Offering an affront to our understanding. Addison called?