I. in ‧ sult 1 /ɪnˈsʌlt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: insulter , from Latin insultare 'to jump on, insult' , from saltare 'to jump' ]
1 . to offend someone by saying or doing something they think is rude:
Nobody insults my family and gets away with it!
I hope Andy won’t be insulted if I don’t come.
insult somebody by doing something
They insult us by ignoring our complaints.
2 . insult sb’s intelligence to say or do something that suggests you think someone is stupid:
I won’t insult your intelligence by lying. Yes, I told him.
II. in ‧ sult 2 /ˈɪnsʌlt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a remark or action that is offensive or deliberately rude:
She was shouting insults at her boyfriend.
$200 for all that work? It’s an insult.
Their offer was so low I took it as an insult (=thought it was meant to be an insult) .
2 . be an insult to sb’s intelligence to offend someone by being too simple or stupid:
Some advertising is an insult to our intelligence.
⇨ add insult to injury at ↑ add (8)