offensive
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
See also: Offensive
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- offencive (obsolete)
Etymology[edit]
From Middle French offensif, from Medieval Latin offensivus, from Latin offendere (“to offend”), past participle offensus; see offend.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)
- Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, or indignation.
- 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.
- Some people find pornography offensive.
- An offensive smell.
- Antonym: inoffensive
- Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.
- 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.
- The army's offensive capabilities. An offensive weapon.
- Antonym: defensive
- (sports) Having to do with play directed at scoring.
- The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.
Usage notes[edit]
- When the second syllable is emphasized, "offensive" is defined as "insulting". When the first syllable is emphasized, it refers to the attacker in a conflict or a sport.
Synonyms[edit]
- aggressive
- invidious (Intending to cause envious offense)
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Collocations[edit]
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[edit]
causing offense
|
relating to attack, offense
|
team sports: having to do with play directed at scoring
|
Noun[edit]
offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)
- (countable, military) An attack.
- The Marines today launched a major offensive.
- 1939 January, Lin Yu, “The "China Incident"”, in Philippine Magazine[2], 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.
- (uncountable) The posture of attacking or being able to attack.
- He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
an attack
|
posture of attack
- 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[edit]
- “offensive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “offensive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Danish[edit]
Adjective[edit]
offensive
- plural and definite singular attributive of offensiv
French[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ɔ.fɑ̃.siv/
- Homophone: offensives
Audio (file)
Etymology 1[edit]
First attested 1417; formed from offense, from Latin offēnsare (“to strike against”).
Noun[edit]
offensive f (plural offensives)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → German: Offensive
Etymology 2[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Adjective[edit]
offensive
Further reading[edit]
- “offensive”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Adjective[edit]
offensive
- inflection of offensiv:
Italian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
offensive
Noun[edit]
offensive f
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Adjective[edit]
offensive
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Adjective[edit]
offensive
Swedish[edit]
Adjective[edit]
offensive
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Sports
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Military
- en:Personality
- Danish non-lemma forms
- Danish adjective forms
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with homophones
- French terms with audio links
- French terms derived from Latin
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Military
- French non-lemma forms
- French adjective forms
- German terms with audio links
- German non-lemma forms
- German adjective forms
- Italian 4-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ive
- Rhymes:Italian/ive/4 syllables
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian adjective forms
- Italian adjective feminine forms
- Italian adjective plural forms
- Italian noun forms
- Norwegian Bokmål non-lemma forms
- Norwegian Bokmål adjective forms
- Norwegian Nynorsk non-lemma forms
- Norwegian Nynorsk adjective forms
- Swedish non-lemma forms
- Swedish adjective forms