injurieux

Injurieux is a French adjective meaning injurious, insulting, or offensive. It derives from Latin injuriosus through Old French injurieux, and is used to describe language or acts that harm a person’s honor or dignity rather than their physical well-being. In everyday use, phrases such as des propos injurieux or des remarques injurieuses signal that the remarks are intended to offend.

Injurieux can modify nouns like propos, critique, ou remarque, indicating that the utterance is insulting or demeaning. The term carries a normative or evaluative sense, signaling disapproval of the speaker’s tone or intention. In literary and media contexts, it is commonly paired with antisocial or aggressive rhetoric to characterize hostile or defamatory language.

Legal context varies by jurisdiction but generally distinguishes injurious speech from defaming or false statements. In many legal systems, injurious or insulting remarks that harm a person’s honor may be treated as an offense separate from defamation, which centers on false statements about someone’s reputation. As such, injurieux describes the nature of the insult, while diffamatoire or calomnieux would refer to false or libelous content. The exact remedies and penalties depend on national law and the specific circumstances of the case.

In translation, injurieux is commonly rendered as injurious or insulting in English, with nuance shifting toward insult or offense rather than factual misrepresentation. See also terms for related linguistic categories such as injure, insult, and defamation.