as in offending
to cause hurt feelings or deep resentment in
insulted their hosts by casually remarking about the outdated look of their home
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in offensive
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insulting
Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 4 July 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for insulting
Verb
Gallagher has previously apologized for a homophobic tweet about Russian soccer hooligans, for posting a death threat to an Atletico Madrid player, and for insulting Coldplay, and has deleted other posts over the years, including one containing an ableist slur.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 4 July 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for insulting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insulting
Adjective
-
Stanton then smoked a two-run single at 110.8 mph, completing his latest offensive outburst.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
13 Aug. 2025
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He was named to the 2018 All-Mountain West team and was the offensive MVP of the 2018 Mountain West championship game, rushing for 200 yards and a touchdown as the Broncos fell 19-16 to Fresno State in overtime.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This game lets fans of telenovelas take on the outrageous characters and melodramatic plot twists to tell memorable stories.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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Yes, Trump had already made certain concessions in advance, by preemptively walking back his outrageous opening gambit in the tariff war when markets rebelled against the policy.—
Ross Douthat,
Mercury News,
3 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The decision sparked a firestorm on social media — where much of the debate around these issues is taking place — and Jackson-Smith was the target of abusive and threatening comments from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
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At the same time, Mahoney was dealing with legal battles against her abusive ex-boyfriend.—
Victoria Elena Valenzuela,
USA Today,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Even the company’s most vituperative detractors acknowledge its engineering genius and applaud its success in driving down launch expenses (unlike many defense contractors, SpaceX largely eats the cost of its failures).—
Franklin Foer,
The Atlantic,
28 July 2025
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Transcripts of the depositions conducted by utility lawyers were made public Friday in Superior Court and hundreds of pages of questions and answers suggest questions about who contributed what to the vituperative oped may never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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The justices who renounced that lie in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center exposed themselves to scurrilous criticisms and even threats to their safety.—
The Editors,
National Review,
24 June 2025
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The good people of Lancaster County were innocent of the charges thrown at them by raving Southerners and scurrilous Democrats.—
Matthew Karp,
Harpers Magazine,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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To authenticate Trump's note and the obscene drawing that accompanied it, Journal reporters claim to have seen the album and talked to people knowledgeable about it.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Aug. 2025
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Guests will enjoy the experience free from disruptive behavior, foul language, obscene gestures, fighting, unruly conduct or inconsiderate actions.—
Ed Masley,
AZCentral.com,
9 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The juvenile in Canada was charged with indecent communications, uttering threats, public mischief and mischief over $5,000.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2025
-
Cowan was arrested in August 2011 and charged with Daniel’s murder, indecent treatment and interfering with a corpse, the report states.—
Nicole Acosta,
People.com,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The explosion of sports betting might not be the reason for the increase in personal invective being spewed at games.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
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Between the time the former Marine Soto was indicted in 2018 and sentenced in 2020, then-President Donald Trump offered up vitriolic invective to Mexican officials.—
Sean Campbell,
The Conversation,
23 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insulting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insulting. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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