offensive

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See also: Offensive

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French offensif, from Medieval Latin offensivus, from Latin offendere (“to offend”), past participle offensus; see offend.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈfɛnsɪv/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (sports): Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/

Adjective

offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)

  1. Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, or hatred.
    Some people find pornography offensive.
  2. 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.
  3. (sports) Having to do with play directed at scoring.
    The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.

Usage notes

  • Nouns to which "offensive" is often applied: content, material, language, word, comment, remark, statement, speech, joke, humor, image, picture, art, behavior, conduct, act, action.
  • 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

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)

  1. (countable, military) An attack.
    The Marines today launched a major offensive.
  2. (uncountable) The posture of attacking or being able to attack.
    He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.

Translations

Further reading

Danish

Adjective

offensive

  1. plural and definite singular attributive of offensiv

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

offensive

  1. feminine singular of offensif

Noun

offensive f (plural offensives)

  1. An offensive (military attack).

Further reading

German

Adjective

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

offensive f

  1. feminine plural of offensivo

Noun

offensive f

  1. plural of offensiva

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

Template:nb-adj-form

  1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

Template:nn-adj-form

  1. definite singular/plural of offensiv
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