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to spit in someone's face

to spit in someone's face

8.2
Act in a way that shows strong disrespect and insults someone
  • idiom
  • Offensive
translation icon : escupir en la cara a alguien
  • You take bread out of that man's mouth... ...and spit in his face.

Examples

Synonyms

to insult
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
543 2.1

To say or do something rude to someone

is a stronger act meant to publicly shame or deeply humiliate someone
to spit
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Informal
99 6.3

To say words quickly and angrily to show strong dislike

is an intentional act aimed to insult or humiliate a person
to abuse
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
95 4.2

To say rude or insulting words to someone to hurt them

is an act meant to humiliate someone openly rather than only rude speech
to diss
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
62 8.4

To speak rudely to someone to show no respect, often in public

is more aggressive and aims to humiliate rather than only offend
to sneer
vsto spit in someone's face
39 5.6

Smile or speak to show you do not respect someone

is a bolder act meant to insult or humiliate rather than a facial sign
to mouth off
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Informal
28 8.3

To speak rudely and loudly to a person in charge

is a deliberate act aiming to insult or shame rather than loud rudeness
to jeer
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
14 6.2

To laugh at someone and shout rude words to show you do not respect them

is more personal and aims to humiliate rather than public mockery
to thumb one's nose at
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Informal
8 9.2

To show open disrespect by refusing to follow rules or customs

is aimed to insult or shame a person directly rather than general defiance
to give (someone) lip
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Informal
8 8.4

Talk back to someone in a rude way

is intended to insult or publicly shame rather than cheeky backtalk
to affront
vsto spit in someone's face
5 7.1

To insult someone openly or show no respect

is a deliberate action intended to insult or humiliate personally
to turn up one's nose
vsto spit in someone's face
3 7.5

To show you think something is not good enough

is directed at a person to insult or humiliate rather than objects
to lip off
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Informal
1 8.9

Talk back rudely to someone in charge

is meant to humiliate a person rather than merely talk back
to gob
vsto spit in someone's face
  • UK
9.9

To spit forcefully in a rude way

is a deliberate act meant to insult or humiliate someone publicly
taunting
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
5.8

Saying things that make fun of someone to upset them

is focused on humiliating someone directly rather than only provoking
to speak with venom
vsto spit in someone's face
7.8

Say angry, cruel things about someone

is a physical or visible action meant to shame, not only bitter speech
to spit poison
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Informal
7.9

Say very angry, hurtful things to someone to hurt them

is a deliberate humiliating act rather than only malicious speech
to snap someone's head off
vsto spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
8.0

To speak to someone in a sudden angry way without good reason

is a deliberate humiliating action rather than a quick angry rebuttal

How Contemptuous

to humiliate
  • Offensive
414 6.1
to spit in someone's face
  • Offensive
8.2
insult
  • Offensive
313 1.3
to snub
7 6.3
to ignore
1.0

Surface Forms

spitting in someone's face present participle
spits in someone's face third person singular
spat in someone's face past participle

Morphology

spit + in + someone's + face

The meaning of showing contempt is directly derived from the literal action of 'spit' + 'in' + 'someone's' + 'face' — the physical act clearly conveys insult or humiliation. This gesture and its figurative extension are cross-linguistically common and thus predictable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Spit in someone's face comes from a clear, insulting picture: someone actually spits on another person's face, leaving them wet and ashamed. So the phrase now means 'to show strong disrespect or to insult someone on purpose'.