insult
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A rude expression intended to offend or hurt.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnsuhltSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈsʌlt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A rude expression intended to offend or hurt
uncountable
Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.
countable
Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).
verb
transitive
To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A rude expression intended to offend or hurt
Used this way, insult is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use insult
- “He insulted her with his rude remarks.”verb
- “Turning his back on me was a deliberate insult.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.