Noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see slap, in, the, face.
(figuratively) Something 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 now the girls are no longer best friends.
Synonym: kick in the teeth
A correct answer is like an affectionate kiss, Goethe said; a correct answer, Gertrude would have said, is like a slap in the face. Randall Jarrell
A slap in the face is more effective than ten lectures. It makes you understand very quickly. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day. That was the business of hiding a Jew. Markus Zusak
Better an honest slap in the face than an insincere kiss. Yiddish Proverb
A stern look is not a slap in the face. African Proverb
A slap in the face now is better than promised candy later. Persian Proverb