affront 1 of 2

affront

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word affront distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of affront are insult, offend, and outrage. While all these words mean "to cause hurt feelings or deep resentment," affront implies treating with deliberate rudeness or contemptuous indifference to courtesy.

deeply affronted by his callousness

When is it sensible to use insult instead of affront?

While the synonyms insult and affront are close in meaning, insult suggests deliberately causing humiliation, hurt pride, or shame.

insulted every guest at the party

When can offend be used instead of affront?

Although the words offend and affront have much in common, offend need not imply an intentional hurting but it may indicate merely a violation of the victim's sense of what is proper or fitting.

hoped that my remarks had not offended her

In what contexts can outrage take the place of affront?

The synonyms outrage and affront are sometimes interchangeable, but outrage implies offending beyond endurance and calling forth extreme feelings.

outraged by their accusations

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of affront
Noun
Charlie Hustle, as the disgraced former baseball player, manager, and broadcaster Peter Edward Rose is known in my home town, is a legend whose great triumphs and shameful mistakes personally buoy or affront generations of Cincinnatians. Brandon Harris, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2024 And in an affront to constitutional separation of powers, Biden has ignored decisions that didn’t go his way. Nolan Finley, The Mercury News, 3 Aug. 2024
Verb
Spearing his eggs Benedict with salmon, the silver-bearded star appears almost affronted when asked. Andrea Mandell, Peoplemag, 1 Oct. 2023 Few scholars were more affronted by the turn their discipline was taking than Uri Simonsohn and Joseph Simmons, who were then at the University of Pennsylvania, and Leif Nelson of the University of California, Berkeley. Noam Scheiber, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2023 See all Example Sentences for affront 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for affront
Noun
  • There was also the larger error of anointing Harris without political competition — an insult to the democratic process that handed the nomination to a candidate who, as some of us warned at the time, was exceptionally weak.
    Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
  • But what garnered the most attention were a comedian’s insults of Puerto Rico, Trump’s violent rhetoric about a political opponent and a comment about women.
    Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Donald Trump is not a politician who guards his words carefully to avoid offending anyone.
    DP Opinion, The Denver Post, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The offending comedic act equated Puerto Rico to a floating island of garbage, touching a sore spot and potentially energizing key groups of low-propensity or undecided Puerto Rican voters in swing states.
    Rafael Bernal, The Hill, 31 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • The remark outraged conservatives, even as the White House disputed the interpretation of what the president meant.
    Niall Stanage, The Hill, 30 Oct. 2024
  • Vance is equally fluent in the language of the national élite, and therefore knows how to get the national media to cover his crazy theories, and how to get national people outraged by them.
    David Fontana, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Noun
  • In the height of the singer-songwriter era, when earnest autobiographical confessions were prized as tokens of authenticity, Newman’s use of sarcasm and unlikable protagonists was an act of literary radicalism in pop music.
    David Hajdu, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
  • Original cast member Chevy Chase first took the seat back in 1975, bringing his sarcasm and deadpan humor to the segment.
    Stephanie Sengwe, People.com, 11 Oct. 2024

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Thesaurus Entries Near affront

Cite this Entry

“Affront.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affront. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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