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Insult I ˈɪnsʌlt Police Crowd Shouting Questions Don’t

Word insult
WordType (noun)
Phonetic BrE / ˈɪnsʌlt / NAmE / ˈɪnsʌlt /
Example
  • the crowd were shouting insults at the police.
  • his comments were seen as an insult to the president.
  • the questions were an insult to our intelligence (= too easy).
  • i don’t mean this as an insult, but i think the team would play better without you.
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Content

insult

(noun)BrE / ˈɪnsʌlt / NAmE / ˈɪnsʌlt /
  1. a remark or an action that is said or done in order to offend somebody
    • The crowd were shouting insults at the police.
    • His comments were seen as an insult to the president.
    • The questions were an insult to our intelligence (= too easy).
  2. to make a bad relationship with somebody worse by offending them even more
  3. Extra Examples

    • I don’t mean this as an insult, but I think the team would play better without you.
    • I meant it as a bit of constructive advice, but he took it as a personal insult
    • Insults were flying back and forth.
    • It was an insult to his wife.
    • Only 300 people came to the match and to add insult to injury, the floodlights went out during the second half.
    • The king is unlikely to forgive the insult offered to his ambassador.
    • The questions were a real insult to our intelligence.
    • The two groups of fans exchanged insults.
    • Then, to add insult to injury= to make things worse, they told me I couldn’t get on the flight.
    • They were hurling insults at the police.
    • To call a woman a girl is the ultimate insult.
    • Whatever you do, don’t call a ‘railway enthusiast‘ a trainspotter—it’s the ultimate insult.
    • one of the worst insults you can throw at somebody
    • The crowd was shouting insults at the police.

    Word Origin

    • mid 16th cent. (as a verb in the sense ‘exult, act arrogantly’): from Latin insultare ‘jump or trample on’, from in- ‘on’ + saltare, from salire ‘to leap’. The noun (in the early 17th cent. denoting an attack) is from French insulte or ecclesiastical Latin insultus. The main current senses date from the 17th cent.
Copyright This card's content is collected from the following dictionaries: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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