Camouflet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A covert rebuke that discreetly diminishes a person's credibility
2. An indirect form of derision that subtly impacts someone's standing or reputation
3. A secretive rebuke that quietly weakens a person's influence ; a blast below ground that creates a hollow cavity without breaking the surface

Etymology: The word's most striking history is its original sense, which was a physical insult rather than a political one. French "camouflet" meant a puff of smoke blown into someone's face, a deliberately rude gesture of contempt. From that image of a smoky breath aimed at a person, the word came to mean a slight or humiliation delivered with a sting of disdain. The military sense followed a different line of thought. Miners and siege engineers used the same French term for a charge of explosive set off underground, which shook the earth and left a hollow without ever breaking through the surface. The image is still the smoke-puff, now released beneath the ground rather than into a face. English borrowed the word from French, keeping both senses. The political meaning, a quiet blow that undermines someone's standing, grew from the earlier idea of a covert slight. Here the word's two modern uses share one root: a hidden force that does damage without showing itself on the surface.

Synonyms: snub, insult, affront