Sentence:  The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a <WSD>snub</WSD> to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A deliberate affront or slight.