affront Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect
    insult.
    • turning his back on me was a deliberate insult
  2. verb treat, mention, or speak to rudely
    diss; insult.
    • He insulted her with his rude remarks
    • the student who had betrayed his classmate was dissed by everyone

WordNet

Af*front" transitive verb
Etymology
OF. afronter, F. affronter, to confront, LL. affrontare to strike against, fr. L. ad + frons forehead, front. See Front.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Affronted; present participle & verbal noun Affronting
Definitions
  1. To front; to face in position; to meet or encounter face to face. Obs.
    All the sea-coasts do affront the Levant. Holland.
    That he, as 't were by accident, may here Affront Ophelia. Shak.
  2. To face in defiance; to confront; as, to confront; as, to affront death; hence, to meet in hostile encounter. Archaic
  3. 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.
    Syn. -- TO insult; abuse; outrage; wound; illtreat; slight; defy; offend; provoke; pique; nettle.
Af*front" noun
Etymology
Cf. F. affront, fr. affronter.
Definitions
  1. An encounter either friendly or hostile. Obs.
    I walked about, admired of all, and dreaded On hostile ground, none daring my affront. Milton.
  2. Contemptuous or rude treatment which excites or justifies resentment; marked disrespect; a purposed indignity; insult.
    Offering an affront to our understanding. Addison.
  3. An offense to one's self-respect; shame. Arbuthnot. Syn. -- Affront, Insult, Outrage. 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.

Webster 1913