insult1 verbinsult2 noun
insultin‧sult1 /ɪnˈsʌlt/ ●●○ verb [transitive] 
1to offend someone by saying or doing something they think is rude: 
Nobody insults my family and gets away with it! I hope Andy won’t be insulted if I don’t come.insult somebody by doing something They insult us by ignoring our complaints.2insult somebody’s intelligence to say or do something that suggests you think someone is stupid: I won’t insult your intelligence by lying. Yes, I told him.insult1 verbinsult2 noun
insultin‧sult2 /ˈɪnsʌlt/ ●●○ noun [countable] EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- I said something about her new hairstyle and she took it as an insult.
- Outside the pub, a drunk was shouting insults at everyone who came past.
- People were hurling insults at the players as they walked off the pitch.
- She took it as a personal insult that you did not ask her opinion about your book.
- The longer he talked, the more insults the crowd yelled at him.
- You mustn't wear your shoes inside the temple -- it is a great insult.
- Adding insult to injury, a double cross awaits our luckless hero in the final stanza.
- But the finger stayed down and, to add insult, Sri Lanka's batsmen trotted a cheeky leg bye.
- Despite the threats, the insults, the accusations, had she thought he would never physically strike her?
- Gable regards this as an insult to the audience handed out by critics who consider themselves on a higher level.
- In such a case, honest insult, based upon fact, would make us feel more comfortable.
- Melinda Mullins -- a presence to remember -- plays the prima donna, Hilary, who tosses off an insult a minute.
- Would she scream insults, or perhaps cling on to him for grim death and beg for another chance?
Longman Language Activatorto be very rude to someone
to be very rude and unpleasant to someone, either by saying rude things to them or by making them feel stupid or unimportant: · Jarvis was fired for insulting a customer.· They offered me $20 for a whole day's work - I felt really insulted.
to speak or behave towards someone in a way that offends them: · My mother doesn't like my boyfriend because he was rude to her once.· You shouldn't let her be so rude to you.
to say a lot of rude, offensive, unpleasant things to someone, especially when you are angry with them: · The men were getting drunk on cheap beer and some had started abusing passers-by.verbally abuse (=to say something very rude to someone): · The player was reported to the tournament director for verbally abusing match officials.
to shout a lot of rude and offensive things at someone: · The crowd screamed abuse as the two men accused of the murder left the court in police vans.· Strikers outside the factory gate were shouting abuse at anybody who tried to get past them.
to try to offend someone by calling them rude names in the way that children do: · He tried to make Oliver cry by hitting him, pulling his hair, and calling him names.· "She said I was a fat pig.'' "Oh, I've been called far worse names than that.''
if an action or someone's behaviour is an insult , it offends you because it shows no respect: · The pay offer of 2% was an insult.be an insult to: · The girl's father claimed the portrait revealing his daughter's face was an insult to Islam.
language or behaviour that insults someone insulting remarks or behaviour are very rude and you feel offended by them: · She started making insulting comments about the size of my stomach.· I wasn't being deliberately insulting. I simply meant that more exercise would be good for you.· He was accused of using threatening or insulting behaviour and of assaulting a police officer.· I find his behaviour towards me extremely insulting.· Sexist language is very insulting to women.
very rude and using offensive language: · The woman became angry and abusive when she was not allowed into the hotel.· Smith was fined £500 for making foul and abusive comments to match officials.· Drunken football fans began directing a stream of abusive language at the policemen. · The way pupils use sexually abusive language to insult each other presents particular problems for teachers.
words or actions that insult someone something rude that someone says or does to someone else, that offends their intelligence, character, or appearance etc: · Outside the pub, a drunk was shouting insults at everyone who came past.· You mustn't wear your shoes inside the temple -- it is a great insult.hurl insults (at somebody): · People were hurling insults at the players as they walked off the pitch.take something as an insult (=be insulted by it): · I said something about her new hairstyle and she took it as an insult.
rude, offensive, or unpleasant things that someone says to someone else, especially when they are angry: shout/scream/hurl abuse: · People were shouting abuse at the Prime Minister as he sped away in a large car.· An angry mob screamed abuse and hurled missiles during clashes with police yesterday.· Demonstrators hurled abuse at councillors as they entered the council building in Glasgow.term of abuse (=a word used to insult someone): · By the late 1970s, the word "hippie" had become a term of abuse.torrent/stream of abuse (=a lot of abuse): · Leaning out of the window, he let loose a stream of abuse.
formal a remark or action that offends someone because it treats them without any respect: affront to: · She felt that his behaviour was an affront to her dignity as a human being.· Lucy was so shocked by these affronts that she remained speechless for the rest of the evening.personal affront: · Though I only intended it as a joke, he took it as a personal affront.
words for describing behaviour, remarks etc that offend people · Throughout the football game a small section of the crowd was chanting offensive slogans.· The BBC received a number of complaints about the offensive remarks made during the interview.deeply offensive (=very offensive) · These pornographic magazines are deeply offensive to women.offensive to · Your comments are offensive to all Jews.
behaviour, remarks etc that are insulting offend someone a lot because they show a lack of respect for them or for their ability, honesty etc: · It's insulting when people assume I must be a racist because I'm from the South.deeply insulting (=very insulting): · I find your criticism deeply insulting.insulting to: · advice that is extremely insulting to unemployed people
to offend a particular person or group of people by showing little respect for their intelligence, ability, beliefs etc: · Leaders described the mosque's destruction as an insult to Muslims.be an insult to somebody's intelligence/ability etc: · The lesson was awful. It was an insult to our intelligence.· If I didn't finish this meal it would be an insult to your superb cooking.
something that is objectionable is likely to offend people because it is morally unacceptable or very unpleasant: · I thought the bedroom scenes were pretty objectionable and unnecessary.· Our goal is to get rid of many of the objectionable features of capitalism.highly/deeply objectionable: · I find it highly objectionable to have to sit near people who are smoking.
to make a bad or difficult situation worse to make a bad or difficult situation even worse, especially when you were trying to improve it: · Don't interfere. You'll only make things worse.· Trying not to laugh aloud made it worse, and for a moment or two, they were both helpless with suppressed laughter.· Why not try running the anti-virus software? It can't make things any worse, can it?
use this to talk above something that makes a bad situation even worse: · To make matters worse, the director's gone on holiday without leaving anyone in charge.· To make things worse, Jimmy suddenly announced he'd left his passport at home.
to make a bad or difficult situation even worse: · Air pollution may aggravate a child's asthma.· Is the pain aggravated by coughing or laughing?· Any talk of price rises now will only aggravate an already serious situation.
formal to make a bad or difficult situation even worse: · The family's problems were exacerbated when Walter lost his job.· Ironically, the government's reassurances may have exacerbated fear about the disease.
if something compounds a problem, mistake, or difficulty, it adds to the existing problem so that the general situation gets even worse than before: · Strong nationalist sentiment is compounding the deep political problems faced by the President.be compounded by: · John and Val's domestic problems were compounded by stress at work.· The effects of the East Coast snows this year were compounded by severe storms in the spring.
use that to say that something makes a bad situation worse for someone, by unfairly giving them another problem that relates to or is a result of the original one: · The bank not only refused to refund the money but, to add insult to injury, charged me for the letter telling me so!
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Their offer was so low I took it as an insult (=thought it was meant to be an insult).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Their offer was so low I took it as an insult (=thought it was meant to be an insult).· He was surrounded by a group of boys who shouted abuse at him.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· That was the final insult, then.· The final insult, Blanche knew, would be the smile Taczek would sport when released.
· He took it as a personal insult.· We would try to top the others in hurling personal insults.· The political campaign degenerated into the ugliest in recent memory. Personal insults and accusations swamped efforts to debate policies.· I saw this small sum not as a personal insult but as a gain for the charity I was supporting.· They stood on the concrete steps reviewing the dismal scene as if it were a personal insult.· Lewis seemed to be taking it as a personal insult that the family had come to the Hebrides for their summer holiday.
VERB· If your Night Goblins have bows they can add further insult by taking pot shots at the enemy while he squirms.· There was no point Tuesday in adding to the insult of the Bulls' 9-46 record.· The, to add insult to injury, it started raining heavily.· Then, to add insult to penury, the bond market exploded.· But the finger stayed down and, to add insult, Sri Lanka's batsmen trotted a cheeky leg bye.· Further, as described earlier, adding insult to injury, in their first months they had created additional work for themselves.· To add insult to injury the roof leaked.· To add insult to injury, our family health services authority is returning our claims for Haemophilus influenzae type B immunisation unpaid.
· There is not much to be achieved by hurling insults.· We would try to top the others in hurling personal insults.
· The two men continued to trade heartfelt insults, the gist of which revealed normally submersed beliefs.· The two camps traded insults, moans and jeers, threatening occasionally to turn the proceedings into an intramural debate.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► heap praise/insults etc on somebody
1a remark or action that is offensive or deliberately rude: - It is an insult to our intelligence.
- People over age 65 who work get fewer benefits and, to add insult to injury , they have to pay more in taxes.
- The bank not only refused to refund the money but, to add insult to injury, charged me for the letter telling me so!
- Moreover, and to add insult to injury, these off-centre policies are never supported by a clear majority of the electorate.
- The, to add insult to injury, it started raining heavily.
- She heard the boys hurling abuse at her, shouting to her to stop, but she shut her ears to them.
- There is not much to be achieved by hurling insults.
- When I first met her she had been hurling abuse at her daughters-in-law who took no notice whatsoever.
- He was more than prepared to trade blows with the former circus act Benichou.
- The two camps traded insults, moans and jeers, threatening occasionally to turn the proceedings into an intramural debate.
She was shouting insults at her boyfriend. $200 for all that work? It’s an insult. Their offer was so low I took it as an insult (=thought it was meant to be an insult).2be an insult to somebody’s intelligence to offend someone by being too simple or stupid: Some advertising is an insult to our intelligence. → add insult to injury at add(8)