insult
n. countablen. a rude or mean comment that is meant to hurt someone's feelings. You use this word when someone says something disrespectful to you.
n. a remark or action intended to be offensive, disrespectful, or demeaning. Often functions as the object of verbs like 'hurled', 'traded', or 'exchanged'.
He took her comment as a personal insult.
The politician ignored the insults from the crowd and continued his speech about the new law.
While the critique was framed as professional advice, the underlying tone felt like a calculated insult to his years of experience in the field.
The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter (“to insult”)) or its etymon Latin īnsultō (“to spring, leap or jump at or upon; to abuse, insult, revile, taunt”), the frequentative form of īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + saliō (“to bound, jump, leap; to spring forth; to flow down”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to spring”)). The noun is derived from Middle French insult (modern French insulte (“insult”)) or its etymon Late Latin insultus (“insult, reviling, scoffing”), from īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”); see above.
Commonly takes the preposition 'to' when directed at a person or group.
He said an insult to meHe insulted meWhile 'insult' is a noun, learners often use it awkwardly with 'say'; it is more natural to use the verb form 'insult' or the phrase 'pay someone an insult'.