insults

Noun

insult (countable and uncountable, plural insults)

1. (uncountable) Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
   • 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.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...

   Synonyms:

   affront, diss, insultation, offence, offense, pejorative, slam, slight, slur, barb

   Antonyms:

   compliment

2. (countable) Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
   • The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.

   Synonyms:

   disgrace, outrage

3. Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.
   • The exact nature of the teratological insult in diabetic pregnancy, and the cell biological details of the induced disturbances, are not known.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...
4. (also, archaic, countable, figuratively) An assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.
   • 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.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...
5. (countable, obsolete) An act of leaping upon.
   • 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.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...

See all 9 meanings of insult