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slap in the face (plural slaps in the face)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see slap,‎ in,‎ the,‎ face. (This sense is a translation hub.)
2. (figuratively) Something unexpectedly said or done which causes shock or offense; an insult, rebuke, or rebuff.

   Synonym: kick in the teeth

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

• cuff on the ear
• bitch-slap
• pimp-slap

slap in the face (third-person singular simple present slaps in the face, present participle slapping in the face, simple past and past participle slapped in the face)

1. To insult or offend unnecessarily.
   • 1988 December 18, Jack Ben-Levi, “The Death And Birth Of Families”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 23, page 5:

     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.

2. To be or suddenly become bluntly obvious to.