The main Arabic words used to describe political insults are "smear" (waṣm), "slander/insult" (shatῑma) and "trading barbs" (tarāshuq)... However, these words appear in different contexts and are not specific to a political insult. This article begins with an explanation of these expressions, then proposes the term (nabz) to designate the political insult. Thus, it defines (nabz) as an outrageous descriptor used in a special context to attack political opponents. The article’s main premise is that (nabz) (political insult) is not only a discourse of ridicule and humiliation, and a means of ideological dispute, but also of political culture that originated with the despotic state – one of the reasons why democratic transition failed in Tunisia.