Dictionary entry

Affront

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Af‐front″ (�), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Affronted; p. pr. & vb. n.Affronting.] [OF. afronter, F. affronter, to confront, LL. affrontare to strike against, fr. L. ad + frons forehead, front. See Front.] 1. To front; to face in position; to meet or encounter face to face.

All the sea-coasts do affront the Levant.

Holland.

That he, as 't were by accident, may here

Affront Ophelia.

Shak.

2. To face in defiance; to confront; as, to affront death; hence, to meet in hostile encounter.

3. To offend by some manifestation of disrespect; to insult to the face by demeanor or language; to treat with marked incivility.

How can any one imagine that the fathers would have dared to affront the wife of Aurelius?

Addison.

Syn. — To insult; abuse; outrage; wound; illtreat; slight; defy; offend; provoke; pique; nettle.