offensive

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /əˈfɛnsɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #5745

Meanings

1

adj
Likely to upset or anger people; rude or insulting.

The joke was offensive and several guests walked out.
2

adj
Very unpleasant to the senses, especially the smell.

An offensive smell came from the old drain.
3

adj
Used for attacking rather than defending.

The treaty banned the use of offensive weapons.
4

noun
A planned military attack.

The army launched a major offensive at dawn.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

aggressive invidiousunheard-of

Word family

Forms offensivenessoffensives

Derived forms counter-offensivecounteroffensivecyberoffensiveinoffensivenon-offensivenonoffensiveoffensivelyoffensivenessoveroffensivesuperoffensiveunoffensive

Related forms offend offense

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

potentially offensive
capable of causing insult or upset even if no complaint has yet occurred

Adverb + adjective

Etymology

From Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend.

offensif Middle French offendo Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# offensive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈfɛnsɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 5745

## Meanings
1. Likely to upset or anger people; rude or insulting.
2. Very unpleasant to the senses, especially the smell.
3. Used for attacking rather than defending.
4. A planned military attack.

## Examples
- The joke was offensive and several guests walked out.
- An offensive smell came from the old drain.
- The treaty banned the use of offensive weapons.
- The army launched a major offensive at dawn.

## Synonyms
- aggressive
- invidious
- unheard-of

## Derived Forms
- counter-offensive
- counteroffensive
- cyberoffensive
- inoffensive
- non-offensive
- nonoffensive
- offensively
- offensiveness
- overoffensive
- superoffensive
- unoffensive

## Related Forms
- offend
- offense

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: offensif
- Root: offendo

## Etymology
From Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend.

## AI Etymology
Offensive comes from Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend. The historical chain includes Middle French offensif and Latin offendo. Modern senses include likely to upset or anger people; rude or insulting and very unpleasant to the senses, especially the smell. The wider word family includes derivatives such as counter-offensive, counteroffensive, cyberoffensive, inoffensive, non-offensive, and nonoffensive and related forms such as offend and offense.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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