affront

/ə-ˈfrənt/

Middle English afronten, afrounten, borrowed from Anglo-French afrunter "to strike the front of, shame," derivative from the phrase a frunt "facing, openly, blatantly," from a "to, at" (going back to Latin ad) + frunt ", forehead"

verb

  1. to insult especially to the face by behavior or language

  2. to cause offense to

  3. to face in defiance : confront

He was affronted by her rudeness.

laws that affront society

offend outrage affront insult mean to cause hurt feelings or deep resentment. offend need not imply an intentional hurting but it may indicate merely a violation of the victim's sense of what is proper or fitting. outrage implies offending beyond endurance and calling forth extreme feelings.

noun

  1. a deliberate offense : insult

  2. a hostile encounter

an affront to his dignity