Classical Arabic uses two more or less synonymous words that are equivalent to ‘insults’: šatm and sabb. There are only a few definitions of the word šatm, and they mention practically only one synonym, that of sabb. The term refers to ugliness, or more exactly to the expression of a feeling of repulsion or rejection, whether in the spoken word or physical appearance. Šatm indicates bad, ugly language, qabīḥ al-kalām. It is sometimes specified (Ibn Manẓūr [d. 705/1311], Lisān s.v.) that the reference is to words that are “bad but not accusatory” (wa-laysa fī-hi qaḏf). In the case of sabb, onc…