slap in the face

plural slaps in the face

1. figurativelySomething unexpectedly said or done which causes shock or offense; an insult, rebuke, or rebuff.

   That Joan's ex-boyfriend turned up to the school dance with Mary was a slap in the face for Joan, and the girls are no longer friends.

   1 more example

   As things were, Ulric would probably renounce and marry ignominiously or die unmarried and the hated Michaels would step in, for, once king, the conventional Robert would never give his consent to such an alliance. Besides, it would be a 'damned slap in the face' to half the remaining royalty of Europe […]

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   Synonyms: kick in the teeth, smack in the face

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see slap, in, the, face. (This sense is a translation hub.)

present singular third person slaps in the face · participle present slapping in the face · participle past slapped in the face · past slapped in the face

1. To insult or offend unnecessarily.

   With the election of George Bush this country has apparently chosen an answer to the AIDS crisis consisting of the most reactionary social principles. Adding insult to injury, it is a response which makes a show of slapping all marginalized groups in the face.

   1988 December 18, Jack Ben-Levi, “The Death And Birth Of Families”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 23, page 5

2. To be or suddenly become bluntly obvious to.