inoffensive

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌɪnəˈfɛnsɪv/ UK /ˌɪnəˈfɛnsɪv/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
not objectionable or likely to cause offense; harmless

He kept to inoffensive small talk at the reception.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not objectionable or likely... harmless innocuous unobjectionable mild benign innocent

Opposites

offensive objectionable provocative

Word family

Derived forms inoffensivelyinoffensiveness

Related forms offend offense offensive defensive

Etymology

From in- ('not') + offensive, from Latin offendere ('to strike against, displease'), from ob- ('against') + -fendere ('to strike').

in- Latin offendere Latin *gwhen- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# inoffensive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌɪnəˈfɛnsɪv/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌɪnəˈfɛnsɪv/

## Meanings
1. not objectionable or likely to cause offense; harmless

## Examples
- He kept to inoffensive small talk at the reception.

## Synonyms
- harmless
- innocuous
- unobjectionable
- mild
- benign
- innocent

## Antonyms
- offensive
- objectionable
- provocative

## Derived Forms
- inoffensively
- inoffensiveness

## Related Forms
- offend
- offense
- offensive
- defensive

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: in-
- Root: offendere
- Root: *gwhen-

## Etymology
From in- ('not') + offensive, from Latin offendere ('to strike against, displease'), from ob- ('against') + -fendere ('to strike').

## AI Etymology
Inoffensive comes from in- ('not') + offensive, from Latin offendere ('to strike against, displease'), from ob- ('against') + -fendere ('to strike'). The etymological trail includes Latin in-, Latin offendere, and Proto-Indo-European *gwhen-. As an adjective, inoffensive means not objectionable or likely to cause offense; harmless. The same family is visible in derived forms such as inoffensively and inoffensiveness and related forms such as offend, offense, offensive, and defensive. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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