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offensive

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Offensive

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /əˈfɛnsɪv/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (sports): (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/

Adjective

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offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)

  1. Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.
    Antonym: inoffensive
    Some people find pornography offensive.
    An offensive smell.
    • 2016 September 12, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Political Incorrectness Is Just a Strategy”, in Time‎[1]:
      A survey at Yale University had 63% of students wanting professors to issue “trigger warnings” before saying anything that some might find offensive or could cause painful emotions.
    • 2025 May 15, “Europe’s free-speech problem”, in The Economist‎[2]:
      Britain’s police are especially zealous. Officers spend thousands of hours sifting through potentially offensive posts and arrest 30 people a day. Among those collared were a man who ranted about immigration on Facebook and a couple who criticised their daughter’s primary school.
  2. Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.
    Antonym: defensive
    The army's offensive capabilities. An offensive weapon.
    • 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:
      In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.
  3. (sports) Having to do with play directed at scoring.
    The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Collocations

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with nouns
  • offensive content
  • offensive language
  • offensive material
  • offensive word
  • offensive comment
  • offensive remark
  • offensive statement
  • offensive speech
  • offensive joke
  • offensive humor
  • offensive image
  • offensive picture
  • offensive art
  • offensive behavior
  • offensive conduct
  • offensive act
  • offensive action

Translations

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Noun

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offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)

  1. (countable, military) An attack.
    The Marines today launched a major offensive.
    • 1939 January, Lin Yu, “The "China Incident"”, in Philippine Magazine‎[3], volume XXXVI, number 1, →OCLC, page 121:
      In Central Hupeh, the Japanese launched another offensive from the Kingshan region, but instead of moving southwestward to cooperate with another column of theirs to capture Shasi, this column swerved to the northwest and succeeded in capturing Chunghsiang on the Han River.
    • 1971, Kenneth E. Shewmaker, “Closing the Door: 1939”, in Americans and Chinese Communists, 1927–1945: A Persuading Encounter‎[4], Cornell University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 111:
      By the summer of 1939, a stringent military blockade had been imposed on the Shen-Kan-Ning. In the winter of 1939–1940, the Nationalists launched an offensive against the outskirts of the Border Region. Thereafter, blockhouses were erected, 200,000 KMT troops were stationed around the Shen-Kan-Ning, and all economic aid to the Communists was suspended.
    • 2023 July 3, Bethan McKernan, Peter Beaumont, “Israel attacks Jenin in biggest West Bank incursion in 20 years”, in The Guardian‎[5], →ISSN:
      Israel has launched a major aerial and ground offensive into the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, its biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years, in what it described as an “extensive counter-terrorism effort”.
  2. (uncountable) The posture of attacking or being able to attack.
    He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

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Danish

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Adjective

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offensive

  1. plural and definite singular attributive of offensiv

French

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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First attested 1417; formed from offense, from Latin offēnsare (“to strike against”).

Noun

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offensive f (plural offensives)

  1. (military) offensive (an attack)
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → German: Offensive

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

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offensive

  1. feminine singular of offensif

Further reading

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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offensive

  1. inflection of offensiv:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /of.fenˈsi.ve/
  • Rhymes: -ive
  • Hyphenation: of‧fen‧sì‧ve

Adjective

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offensive

  1. feminine plural of offensivo

Noun

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offensive f

  1. plural of offensiva

Norwegian Bokmål

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Adjective

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offensive

  1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Adjective

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offensive

  1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Swedish

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Adjective

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offensive

  1. definite natural masculine singular of offensiv
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