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PlainSpell

insult

in·sult/ɪnˈsʌlt/verb, noun

insult is spelled I-N-S-U-L-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (in·sult). It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, insult means “To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in insult?

Letters6: I-N-S-U-L-T
Syllables2: in·sult
In writing9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is insult?

Insult appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce insult?

  • US /ɪnˈsʌlt/
  • /ɪnˈsɒlt/

As a noun (“Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude…”): /ˈɪnsʌlt/, /ˈɪnsɒlt/.

Insult has 2 syllables, split in·sult in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-insult.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with insult?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as insult from its last stressed vowel (/ʌlt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: sunlit.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of insult

  • insults present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • insulting participle, present
  • insulted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does insult mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).

    - Marvel owns your gods! - Insulting is not arguing.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo assail, assault, or attack; (specifically, military) to carry out an assault, attack, or onset without preparation.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (against or over someone).

  4. 4

    obsoleterareTo leap or trample upon.

noun

  1. 1

    Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect.

  2. 2

    Something that causes offence (for example, by being of an unacceptable quality).

    The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.

  3. 3

    Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes; the injury so caused.

  4. 4

    archaicAn assault or attack; (specifically, military, obsolete) an assault, attack, or onset carried out without preparation.

  5. 5

    obsoleteAn act of leaping upon.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Insult in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchinsulter (to be insensitive, insolent, or rude to…), insulte (action or speech deliberately intended to be…)
Germanbeleidigen (to be insensitive, insolent, or rude to…), Beleidigung, Kränkung, Verletzung (action or speech deliberately intended to be…)
Portugueseinsultar, injuriar (to be insensitive, insolent, or rude to…), insulto, ofensa (action or speech deliberately intended to be…)
Spanishinsultar, agraviar, injuriar, denostar (to be insensitive, insolent, or rude to…), insulto, improperio (action or speech deliberately intended to be…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does insult come from?

The verb is derived from Middle French insulter (modern French insulter (“to insult”)) or its etymon Latin īnsultō (“to spring, leap or jump at or upon; to abuse, insult, revile, taunt”), the frequentative form of īnsiliō (“to bound; to leap in or upon”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + saliō (“to bound, jump, leap; to spring forth; to flow down”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to spring”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after insult