affront
/əˈfrʌnt
/noun
An action or remark that causes outrage or offence: he took his son’s desertion as a personal affront the sackings were an affront to justice...
- I don't consider an insensitive person who won't pick up after their dog an affront to my personal beliefs.
- His no-show for any reason other than a personal trauma is a disgrace and an affront to local democracy.
- At the time she said the ad was not intended to cause offence and described the ban as ‘absurd and an affront to the British sense of humour’.
Synonyms
insult, offence, indignity, slight, snub, slur, aspersion, provocation, injury, put down, humiliation;
outrage, atrocity, scandal, injustice, abuse, desecration, violation
informal slap in the face, kick in the teeth
verb [with object]
Offend the modesty or values of: she was affronted by his familiarity...
- She was affronted by this terrible slight on her husband's generosity.
- Joel looked slightly affronted by that question but smiled.
- I was slightly affronted that he seemed to know more about it than I did.
Synonyms
insult, offend, outrage, mortify, provoke, slight, hurt, pique, wound, put out, irk, displease, distress, bother, rankle, needle, vex, gall, scandalize, disgust, disgruntle, put someone's back up, ruffle someone's feathers, make someone's hackles rise, raise someone's hackles
Origin
Middle English (as a verb): from Old French afronter 'to slap in the face, insult', based on Latin ad frontem 'to the face'.
confront from mid 16th century:
If you confront someone you are literally face to face with them. It comes from Latin confrontare, formed from con- ‘with’ and frons, front- ‘face’. Similarly affront (Middle English) comes from an Old French source meaning ‘to strike someone on the forehead, insult them to their face’ from Latin ad frontem ‘to the face’.