insulting 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of insultingnext
as in offensive

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Dissimilar Words

insulting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of insult
as in offending
to cause hurt feelings or deep resentment in insulted their hosts by casually remarking about the outdated look of their home

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of insulting
Adjective
Pratt came in with an insulting offer and needed to be pushed. — Heather Merrick, Hartford Courant, 11 June 2026 The New York Times last week reported about his relationships with previous girlfriends, some of whom viewed him positively and others who described him as volatile and insulting. — ABC News, 8 June 2026
Verb
Reluctant to name favorite designers and boutiques for fear of insulting others, the actress spoke of her fondness for cashmere. — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 9 June 2026 Then, in 2022, a court convicted him to 31 months in prison for insulting officials from the Supreme Election Council. — Kaya Genç, The Dial, 9 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for insulting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insulting
  1. offensive
  2. offending
  3. outrageous
  4. outraging
  5. abusive
  6. taunting
  7. vituperative
  8. disrespecting
Adjective
  • Aguirre removed Quiñones in favor or taller options, but Mexico never recovered from the loss of offensive creativity.
    — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • The Mets, being one of the worst offensive teams in baseball, don’t often come back from large deficits.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 5 July 2026
Definition of offensive
Verb
  • This will cause Defender to hang and keep a lock on the offending files that holds the entire disk space.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 9 July 2026
  • The murder rate usually rises and falls alongside other crimes, so through the 2010s, with property crime and overall youth offending dropping, criminologists expected the murder trend to follow suit.
    — James Tuttle, The Conversation, 9 July 2026
Definition of offending
Adjective
  • After all, both made their breakthroughs at Barcelona, both play on the right and both possess outrageous natural talent.
    — Ben Church, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • Known for embracing the bizarre, the festival announced Shatner’s addition alongside an intentionally outrageous artist rider that mixes legitimate backstage requests with impossible demands directed at the city of Chicago itself.
    — Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026
Definition of outrageous
Verb
  • On Day 1 of the truce, and in the days since, Israel has stepped up attacks against Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, in Lebanon, outraging Iran and leading to accusations the terms had been breached.
    — Justin Fishel, ABC News, 10 Apr. 2026
Definition of outraging
Adjective
  • Aggression is the norm A common misconception is that aggression needs to be physical before it’s considered abusive, but that’s not always the case.
    — Mark Travers, CNBC, 5 July 2026
  • The union did not give specific examples of abusive incidents.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 July 2026
Definition of abusive
Verb
  • There was one from Spain–Portugal in Dallas, with [Spanish defensive midfielder] Rodri and [Portuguese midfielder] Bernardo Silva, where one of them was taunting the other.
    — T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
  • Hendry sang, taunting Austin Theory, Logan Paul, Paul Heyman and even Brock Lesnar.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of taunting
Adjective
  • In Maine, Graham Platner — who, like Avila Chevalier, had a vituperative social media history — easily defeated the state’s governor, Janet Mills, for the Senate nomination.
    — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 27 June 2026
  • The Irish comedy writer has become better known for his assertion that trans women are men and criticism of trans activism, expressed in often vituperative social media posts.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 May 2026
Definition of vituperative
Verb
  • The leak itself received a mountain of backlash from industry professionals, animators and others for disrespecting the years of work put into crafting the film.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
  • His obsession with disrespecting the talents of all Americans is now costing us dearly.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 27 June 2026
Definition of disrespecting

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insulting
insults
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Cite this Entry

“Insulting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insulting. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on insulting

Nglish: Translation of insulting for Spanish Speakers

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