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# insult

«insult» in Mova's school dictionary: **to say or do something rude that hurts their feelings or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an insult, insults); verb (insult, insults, insulted, insulting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To insult someone is to say or do something rude that hurts their feelings or shows no respect. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#m1)

2) An insult is a rude, unkind remark or action. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#m2)

3) An insult to something means something so bad it seems to show disrespect: "an insult to our intelligence". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In PSHE and anti-bullying lessons pupils learn that insults hurt and that name-calling is a kind of bullying. In stories, insults start arguments and fights. Phrases: hurl/throw insults, trade insults, take it as an insult, add insult to injury (make a bad thing worse).

### examples

- Calling someone stupid is an insult. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x1)
- He insulted the cook by not eating anything. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x2)
- Don't trade insults; walk away and tell a teacher. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x3)
- She took it as an insult when he laughed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x4)
- The two pirates shouted insults at each other. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x5)
- To add insult to injury, it started raining after I fell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x6)
- Saying sorry after an insult is the right thing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x7)
- That tiny prize was an insult to all our hard work. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x8)
- “Geppetto, do not insult me or I shall call you Polendina.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/#x9)

### note

Stress moves: noun IN-sult, verb in-SULT. Adjective: insulting. Regular verb. Starts with a vowel: "an insult". "Add insult to injury" is a fixed phrase.

### In the corpora

- [Not everything people do is about you; a doorbell camera is a common gadget, not an insult.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/43-our-street-when-a-guess-becomes-a-reputation/22/)
- ["Some choice words" means swear words or insults, as in "she had some choice words for the referee".](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/39-pardon-my-french/23/)
- ["The one-finger salute" is a jokey name for raising the middle finger as an insult.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/40-with-all-due-respect/8/)
- ["Flip the bird" means raise the middle finger as an insult; it is American slang.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/40-with-all-due-respect/9/)
- [A look, a rude word or an insult is not a physical attack, so hitting for it is not self-defence.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/377-self-defence-or-just-stupid/26/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «insult» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/insult/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.