affront

CEFRC2

/əˈfɹʌnt/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An action or remark that offends or insults someone.

  2. 02

    verb

    To offend or insult someone.

Examples

  • The coup d'etat in Brazil is an affront to democracy.

  • Yanni took that as a personal affront.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /əˈfrənt/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To meet defiantly; to confront.

  2. To meet or encounter face to face.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To insult intentionally, especially openly.

More examples

In context

  • Such behavior is an affront to society.

  • to affront death

  • Avignon was beginning to settle down for the night – that long painful stretch of time which must somehow be affronted.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Her rude comment was a direct blank to his dignity.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English afrounten, from Old French afronter (“to hit in the face; to defy”), from Vulgar Latin *affrontare (“to hit in the face”), from Latin ad (“to”) + frōns (“forehead”) (English front). By surface analysis, af- + front.