insultn.
/ˈɪnsʌlt/, U.S. /ˈɪnˌsəlt/ 1. † b. Military. An open and sudden attack or assault without formal preparations: cf. insult v. 4b (obsolete).† c. figurative. A ‘leaping in’; an inrush. Obsolete. rare.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
a. An act, or the action, of attacking or assailing; attack, assault, onset (literal and figurative). archaic.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > [noun]
fiend-reseOE
frumresec1275
assault1297
sault1297
inracea1300
sailing13..
venuea1330
checkc1330
braid1340
affrayc1380
outrunningc1384
resinga1387
wara1387
riota1393
assailc1400
assayc1400
onset1423
rake?a1425
pursuitc1425
assemblinga1450
brunta1450
oncominga1450
assembly1487
envaya1500
oncomea1500
shovea1500
front1523
scry1523
attemptate1524
assaulting1548
push1565
brash1573
attempt1584
affront?1587
pulse1587
affret1590
saliaunce1590
invasion1591
assailment1592
insultation1596
aggressa1611
onslaught1613
source1616
confronta1626
impulsion1631
tentative1632
essaya1641
infall1645
attack1655
stroke1698
insult1710
coup de main1759
onfall1837
hurrah1841
beat-up of quarters1870
offensive1887
strafe1915
grand slam1916
hop-over1918
run1941
strike1942
society > armed hostility > attack > [noun] > sudden or surprise attack
supprise1412
surprise1457
supprising1487
alarm1548
larum1549
canvasado1581
descent1587
surprisal1591
flaw1596
canvass1611
insult1710
swoop1824
flap1916
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 618 Talking of the instances, the insults, the intercidences, communities of diseases, and all to shew..that we know the words and tearmes of physick.
1610 F. Herring Certaine Rules (1625) C iij The venyme, by a second insult and incounter surpriseth..the Heart, and caryeth away the Patient.
1699 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ II. iii. xx. 164 To defend them against the Insults of Winds and Waves.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 174. ⁋10 We sufficiently cover from all Insults both our Siege and Convoys.
1726 tr. J. Cavalier Mem. Wars Cevennes i. 48 The others were obliged to retire into fenced Cities, for fear of our Insults.
1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. ii. 317 Many a rude tower and rampart there Repelled the insult of the air.
1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. xi. 448 The enterprising pirate, Kanhoji Angria, by whom the trade of the Company was subjected to repeated insult and plunder during the first thirty years of the eighteenth century.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > [noun] > (act of) running or pushing in
incourse1578
incursion1615
inrushinga1640
insult1652
inrush1817
inrun1875
1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 201 It [the acquisition of prophecy] is a free, sudden, extraordinary insult, or illapse.
d. Medicine. Anything which tends to cause disease in or injury to the body or to disturb normal bodily processes; also, the resulting reaction, lesion, or injury.[Cf. quots. 1603, 1610 at sense 1b.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun]
clakec1000
wemming1100
hurt?c1225
un-i-soundc1275
breach1398
wrethec1400
discomfiture1599
tort1632
personal injury1653
punishment1811
insult1903
sports injury1932
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > production of disease > [noun] > agent or medium
infectiona1398
leavena1400
virusa1400
contagion1603
taint1623
fomes1800
conductor1807
infectant1832
zymin1842
contagium1870
noxa1872
pathogen1880
zyme1882
auto-infectant1887
insult1903
1903 T. L. Stedman Dunglison's Dict. Med. Sci. (U.S. ed. 23) 581/1 Insult, Injury, trauma exciting a morbid process.
1959 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 13) xvii. 228 The avascularity of the sclera and the lack of reaction of its dense fibrous tissues to insult whether traumatic or infective, make diseases of this tissue relatively rare.
1961 Acta Psychiatrica et Neurol. Scand. Suppl. cl. 110 Patients with cerebro~vascular insults.
1961 Acta Psychiatrica et Neurol. Scand. Suppl. cl. 112 It was possible that the insult had been provoked by the anti-hypertensive therapy.
1962 Harris & Gruber in A. Pirie Lens Metabolism 373 Changes in the level of inorganic and organic phosphate within the lens may follow certain metabolic insults.
1962 Harris & Gruber in A. Pirie Lens Metabolism 375 The older the lens, the less is it able to withstand the insult which cold induces.
1970 G. R. Taylor Doomsday Bk. vii. 158 The US population was exposed to ‘severe chronic lead insult’ (insult being a technical term in medicine).
1971 Nature 23 July 276/2 Left handedness may be caused by neurological insults associated with prenatal or birth trauma.
1971 Sci. Amer. Oct. 118/2 Congenital heart abnormalities are the most serious of the commoner defects. Often caused by rubella or similar insults in the early months of pregnancy, they affect about one birth in 60.
2. An act, or the action, of insulting (in sense 1 or 2a of vb.); injuriously contemptuous speech or behaviour; scornful utterance or action intended to wound self-respect; an affront, indignity, outrage. Frequently in to add insult to injury.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > insult > [noun] > an insult
bismer971
unworshipc1200
hard wordc1225
despite1297
dishonourc1320
conteckc1380
reproofa1382
filthc1400
rebukec1425
contumelyc1450
probrec1460
reproacha1513
abusion1570
disgrace1586
affront1588
mockery1603
disobligement1635
disobligation1655
contumelacy1657
insult1671
humps and grumps1727
foul-mouthing1821
mudball1846
slam1884
burn1942
a kick in the teeth1972
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > insult > [verb (intransitive)]
to add insult to injury1748
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 190 Try'd in humble state..By tribulations, injuries, insults, Contempts, and scorns, and snares, and violence. View more context for this quotation
a1743 R. Savage London & Bristol Compar'd (1744) 5 The ruthless Sneer, that Insult adds to Grief.
1748 E. Moore Foundling v. v. 60 This is adding Insult to Injuries.
1751 Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) 121 The voyage to the Houyhnhnms is a real insult upon mankind.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xii. 75 They did not dare to offer a direct insult to their understanding.
1805 Deb. Congr. U.S. 31 Jan. (1852) 1072 It was adding insult to injury, and expenses to both, as it regarded the claimants.
1807 Deb. Congr. U.S. 18 Nov. (1852) 933 Were the laws of a free and respectable State to be evaded by such shameful expedients as these? This was adding insult to injury.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) ii. i. 37 'Twas a gross insult.
1853 H. T. Riley tr. Phædrus Fables 429 You wanted to revenge the sting of a tiny insect with death; what will you do to yourself who have added insult to injury?
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §8. 433 The young prince who..plucked them in insult by the beard.
1876 E. Mellor Priesthood viii. 364 To talk of ‘orders’ without ‘fitness’ in a spiritual kingdom is an insult both to God and man.
1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point ix. 155 It shocked him that one should lie in bed while other people were up and working. To get up late was somehow to add insult to injury.
1970 B. Spock Decent & Indecent 19 The behavioural sciences then added insult to injury. Psychologists have given man the impression that he responds like a laboratory rat.
1972 Times 12 Dec. 22/7 They submitted defective contracts, made arithmetical errors adding up to several thousand pounds and, to add insult to injury, charged their fees on the wrong and higher scale.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [noun] > copulation > covering
covering1552
leap1607
supersaliency1646
service1696
insult1697
skip1844
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 99 The Mother Cow must wear a low'ring look..The Bull's Insult at Four she may sustain. View more context for this quotation
4. Used attributively in expressions denoting contests in verbal insult, characteristic of black Americans.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > [noun] > abusive language > exchange of
flite1768
slanging match1896
insult1964
bitchfest1985
1964 Amer. Folk Music Occas. No. 1. 81 One of the standard routines of both the Negro and blackface minstrel show was the insult-dialogue. Though this theatrical expression is no longer widely current, this kind of dialogue has retained an interest... Here..is an insult~routine used in a street corner situation.
1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues vi. 246 Dr Abrahams makes acknowledgment of the dozens as played by young Negroes in the army but had not himself noted much use of the insult game among females or adults generally.
1969 Language 45 602 The children I studied engaged in constant verbal play..(for instance, their ritualized insult game).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
insultv.
/ɪnˈsʌlt/ 1. intransitive. To manifest arrogant or scornful delight by speech or behaviour; to exult proudly or contemptuously; to boast, brag, vaunt, glory, triumph, esp. in an insolent or scornful way.† a. absol.† c. Const. in, of, on (the occasion of boasting). Obsolete. [= Latin with ablative.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > boast [verb (intransitive)] > boast scornfully or insultingly
insulta1592
signify1932
a1592 H. Smith Wks. (1866–7) I. 439 Let no man insult beyond the lists of humility.
a1619 S. Daniel Funerall Poeme Earle of Devonshyre in Poems (1623) 24 They know how, The Lyon being dead euen Hares insult.
1637 R. Humfrey tr. St. Ambrose Christian Offices ii. 2 Those that much insult, and solace themselues in sounding forth a trumpet.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 113 My enemies who come to stare At my affliction, and perhaps to insult . View more context for this quotation
1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada i. iii. i. 23 Then proudly she insults, and gives you cares And jealousies.
b. Const. over, upon, on, against, rarely at (the object of scorn or triumph). Obsolete or archaic.
ΚΠ
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 140 What was it els for this proude Prelate thus to insult ouer simple men.
1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. xvii. 512 You shall have little lust hereafter to insult against mine ignorance.
1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie sig. O2, in Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) When iniuriously..we insult vpon a mans doings.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xxi. 39 Because they insist so much and so proudly insult thereon.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 288 Nothing is more frequent, then for little girles to insult over their brothers much bigger then they, reproving their doings.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. iii. ii. 393 Let no terræ filius, or vpstart, insult at this which I haue said.
1690 J. Dryden Amphitryon Ep. Ded. sig. Aii They are not apt to insult on the Misfortunes of their Countrymen.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 425 Will the Examiner insult upon that Great Man, as he has done upon Me?
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 171. ¶5 There are many..that insult over an aking Heart.
1785 W. Paley Moral & Polit. Philos. (1818) II. 97 Whilst the infidel..insults over their credulous fears.
1831 T. De Quincey Dr. Parr in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 388 We all know that it was not in his nature to insult over the fallen.
ΚΠ
1589 T. Nashe To Students in R. Greene Menaphon Epist. sig. **4v England might haue long insulted in his wit.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 575 [It] insulteth of two Summers, temperature of Aire, with duplicitie of increase.
1631 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. (ed. 2) (2nd state) §xcii Too many insult in this just punishment, who have deserved more.
1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge Learned Comm. Hebrewes (vii.) ii. 166 They much insult on this, that they have such Priests, as offer up..[a] reall..sacrifice.
1666 S. Pepys Diary 16 June (1972) VII. 169 The Dutch do mightily insult of their victory, and they have great reason.
2.
a. transitive. To assail with offensively dishonouring or contemptuous speech or action; to treat with scornful abuse or offensive disrespect; to offer indignity to; to affront, outrage.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > insult > [verb (transitive)]
heanc950
to say or speak (one) shamec950
to say or speak shame of, on, byc950
affrontc1330
dispersona1400
to say language against1423
insautc1425
contumely1483
cag1504
to put (a person) to villainya1513
fuffle1536
to bring, drive to scorn1569
ascorn1570
affrent1578
injure?a1600
insult1620
to put a scorn on, upon1633
upbraid1665
topa1700
chopse1854
burn1914
rank1934
1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 101 Insult them [servants] not too much, and reduce them not to ouer-great subiection.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) To Insult, to afflict one that is already afflicted, to reproach him with his Misery, to rejoyce over it.
a1713 Ld. Shaftesbury Misc. Refl. i. ii, in Wks. (1749) III. 45 The sacred Pomp trodden under-foot, insulted.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxvii. 304 When you do not insult the man, you have betrayed.
1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. May 534/1 [He] insults you with a special commendation of your window-curtains.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 400 What~ever the canting Roundhead had regarded with reverence was insulted.
b. To triumph over contemptuously.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > hold in contempt [verb (transitive)] > treat with contempt > triumph over or subjugate contemptuously
trample1583
trample1646
insult1775
to trample down1853
tripudiate1888
1775 S. Johnson Journey W. Islands 268 The Welsh, two hundred years ago, insulted their English neighbours for the instability of their Orthography.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (intransitive)]
to lay ona1225
assailc1325
sailc1330
assemblea1375
to fall inc1384
to fall ona1387
givec1430
brunt1440
to set (all) on sevenc1440
to ding on1487
to fall down1534
offend1540
to go on1553
to give on?1611
to let fly1611
strikea1616
insult1638
to set on1670
aggress1708
to carry the war into the enemy's camp1791
hop over1929
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make attack [verb (intransitive)] > attack (of a hostile agency)
insult1638
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 296 In whose road wee found thirty or forty Frigads of Mallabar men of warre, who durst not insult upon their numbers, but choose rather to avoyd.
1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 292 If a stinking muscilage inclining to bitterness doth arise, there is a giddiness of the head; and that more strongly insulting, doth stir up an Apoplexy.
1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 90 Having recover'd much Territory about Rhine, where the German inrodes before had long insulted.
4. † b. spec. (Military). To attack openly and suddenly without formal preparations.
a. transitive. To attack, assault, assail (now only figurative in general sense).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (transitive)]
greetc893
overfallOE
riseOE
assail?c1225
to lay on or upon?c1225
onseekc1275
to set on ——c1290
infighta1300
saila1300
to go upon ——c1300
to turn one's handc1325
lashc1330
annoyc1380
impugnc1384
offendc1385
to fall on ——a1387
sault1387
affrayc1390
to set upon ——1390
to fall upon ——a1398
to lay at?a1400
semblea1400
assayc1400
havec1400
aset1413
oppressa1425
attachc1425
to set at ——c1430
fraya1440
fray1465
oppugn?a1475
sayc1475
envaye1477
pursue1488
envahisshe1489
assaulta1500
to lay to, untoa1500
requirea1500
enterprise?1510
invade1513
assemblec1515
expugn1530
to fare on1535
to fall into ——1550
mount1568
attack?1576
affront1579
invest1598
canvass1599
to take arms1604
attempt1605
to make force at, to, upon1607
salute1609
offence1614
strikea1616
to give a lift at1622
to get at ——1650
insult1697
to walk into ——1794
to go in at1812
to go for ——1838
to light on ——1842
strafe1915
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > attack (of hostile agency)
besetOE
infighta1300
saila1300
seeka1300
visitc1340
beclipc1380
entainc1380
seizec1381
offendc1385
affectc1425
rehetea1450
take1483
attaintc1534
prevent1535
attach1541
attempt1546
affront1579
buffeta1593
to get at ——1650
assault1667
insult1697
to lay at1899
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 107 The spumy Waves..March onwards, and insult the rocky shoar. View more context for this quotation
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies I. x. 100 Having no Fleet at Sea, the Portugueze insulted his Sea-coasts.
1729 G. Shelvocke, Jr. tr. K. Siemienowicz Great Art Artillery v. 396 The Tower appearing..Cæsar..ordered his Army to advance up to it, and insult it.
1853 G. P. R. James Agnes Sorel I. i. 10 A group of night-ramblers walked along insulting the ear of night with cries.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (transitive)] > attack suddenly
to come on ——eOE
to come upon ——c1175
to start upon ——a1393
to start on ——a1398
descend?a1425
to come down1539
surprise1548
ambuscade1676
insult1775
swoop1797
Pearl Harbour1943
1775 Montgomery in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) I. 492 I propose amusing Mr. C. with a formal attack, erecting batteries, &c., but mean to insult the works, I believe towards the Lower Town, which is the weakest part.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 142/1 Insult (to), in a military sense, is to attack boldly and in open day, without going through the slow operations of trenches.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > leaping, springing, or jumping > leap, spring, or jump [verb (intransitive)] > caper
leapc900
playOE
floxec1200
startlec1300
trancec1374
prancec1380
tripc1386
scoupa1400
prankc1450
gambol1508
frisk?1520
jeta1529
pract1568
trounce1568
trip1578
capriole1580
lavolta1590
linch1593
curvet1595
flisk1595
firk1596
caper1598
jaunce1599
risec1599
cabre1600
jaunt1605
skit1611
to cut a caper or capersa1616
tripudiate1623
insult1652
to fike and flinga1689
scamper1691
dance1712
pranklea1717
cavort1794
jinket1823
gambado1827
caracol1861
1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια *249 A goat..began to insult with strange voyce, and gesture.
Derivatives
inˈsulted adj. treated with contemptuous abuse, outraged.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > insult > [adjective] > insulted
affronted1663
insulted1807
fuffled1827
1807 G. Crabbe Library (rev. ed.) in Poems 148 Insulted Reason fled the grov'ling Soul.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 153 If a rude word were spoken of him..he might vindicate his insulted dignity both by civil and criminal proceedings.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1603v.1576- in open sight
- in operation
- in opposite
- in opposition
- in opposition to
- in or beyond one's wildest dreams
- in or by schools
- in or by shoals
- in or by wrong
- in or into splinders
- in or into splinters
- in or into the witnessing of
- in or into witnessing of
- in or into, off soundings
- in or into, off the soundings
- in or of a suit
- in or of fee
- in or of household with
- in or of suit
- in or on a great, in sic a suddenty
- in or on, mid or with sound
- in or out of beat
- in or out of keeping
- in or out of keeping with
- in or out of one's wits