insulting

1 of 2

adjective

in·​sult·​ing in-ˈsəl-tiŋ 

: giving or intended to give offense : being or containing an insult (see insult entry 2 sense 1)

Without the wit, of course, such sentiments would be construed as deeply insulting …

—The American Scholar

… pasted insulting bumper stickers on their vehicles …

—James A. Michener

… considered the proposal so impracticable as to be insulting.

—Alice Adams

The book is "dumbed down" to an almost insulting level.

—Joel Bangilan

insultingly

in-ˈsəl-tiŋ-lē 

adverb

But always his triumphs are the triumphs of a highly sensitive man: a man must feel insults before he can so insultingly and splendidly avenge them.

—G. K. Chesterton

He is a gifted preacher, fashioning sermons that are neither inaccessibly erudite nor insultingly shallow.

—Kevin Sack

insulting

2 of 2

present participle of insult entry 1

Examples of insulting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni is insulting because a macaroni was a pejorative term used to describe a fashionable man with feminine traits of 18th-century Britain. —Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 2 July 2025

Conversations revealed an ongoing dialogue that was not only deeply insulting to Read, but morally offensive to women broadly. —Gemma Allen, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025

Trump’s orders are insulting to state and local officials, but especially to the Marines. —Tom Zirpoli, Baltimore Sun, 17 June 2025

And to see the Russians playing a key role in the European Parliament is insulting to us and our struggle. —Isabel Van Brugen, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1616, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for insulting

• consulting
• exulting
• resulting