Alternative forms

• offencive (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Middle French#OFFENSIVE offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#OFFENSIVE offendere (“to offend”); see offend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈfɛnsɪv/Category:English 3-syllable words#OFFENSIVECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFFENSIVE

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#OFFENSIVE
    • (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /əˈfɪ̟nsɪv/Category:English 3-syllable words#OFFENSIVECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFFENSIVE
• (US, sports) IPA^(key): /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/Category:English 3-syllable words#OFFENSIVECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFFENSIVE
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑˌfɛnsɪv/Category:English 3-syllable words#OFFENSIVECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFFENSIVE
• Hyphenation: of‧fen‧sive

Adjective

offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)Category:English lemmas#OFFENSIVECategory:English adjectives#OFFENSIVECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.

   Antonym: inoffensive

   Some people find pornography offensive.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFFENSIVE

   An offensive smell.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFFENSIVE

   • 2016 September 12, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Political Incorrectness Is Just a Strategy”, in Time‎:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFFENSIVE

   • 2025 May 15, “Europe’s free-speech problem”, in The Economist‎:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFFENSIVE

2. Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.

   Antonym: defensive

   The army's offensive capabilities. An offensive weapon.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFFENSIVE

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFFENSIVE

3. (sportsCategory:en:Sports#OFFENSIVE) Having to do with play directed at scoring.

   The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFFENSIVE

Noun

offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)Category:English lemmas#OFFENSIVECategory:English nouns#OFFENSIVECategory:English uncountable nouns#OFFENSIVECategory:English countable nouns#OFFENSIVECategory:English countable nouns#OFFENSIVECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#OFFENSIVE, militaryCategory:en:Military#OFFENSIVE) An attack.

   The Marines today launched a major offensive.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFFENSIVE

   • 1939 January, Lin Yu, “The "China Incident"”, in Philippine Magazine‎, 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFFENSIVE

   • 1971, Kenneth E. Shewmaker, “Closing the Door: 1939”, in Americans and Chinese Communists, 1927–1945: A Persuading Encounter‎, 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFFENSIVE

   • 2023 July 3, Bethan McKernan, Peter Beaumont, “Israel attacks Jenin in biggest West Bank incursion in 20 years”, in The Guardian‎, →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”.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFFENSIVE

2. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#OFFENSIVE) The posture of attacking or being able to attack.

   He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFFENSIVE

Further reading

• “offensive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “offensive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Adjective

offensiveCategory:Danish non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Danish adjective forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Danish entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. plural and definite singular attributive of offensiv

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.fɑ̃.siv/Category:French 3-syllable words#OFFENSIVECategory:French terms with IPA pronunciation#OFFENSIVE
• Homophone: offensivesCategory:French terms with homophones#OFFENSIVE

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#OFFENSIVE

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

  Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#OFFENSIVE

Etymology 1

First attested 1417; formed from offense, from LatinCategory:French terms derived from Latin#OFFENSIVE offēnsare (“to strike against”).

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Further reading

• “offensive”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

  Category:German terms with audio pronunciation#OFFENSIVE

Adjective

offensiveCategory:German non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:German adjective forms#OFFENSIVECategory:German entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /of.fenˈsi.ve/Category:Italian 4-syllable words#OFFENSIVECategory:Italian terms with IPA pronunciation#OFFENSIVE
• Rhymes: -iveCategory:Rhymes:Italian/ive#OFFENSIVECategory:Rhymes:Italian/ive/4 syllables#OFFENSIVE
• Hyphenation: of‧fen‧sì‧ve

Adjective

offensiveCategory:Italian non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Italian adjective forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. feminine plural of offensivo

Noun

offensive fCategory:Italian non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Italian noun forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. plural of offensiva

Adjective

offensiveCategory:Norwegian Bokmål non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Norwegian Bokmål adjective forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Norwegian Bokmål entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Adjective

offensiveCategory:Norwegian Nynorsk non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Norwegian Nynorsk adjective forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Norwegian Nynorsk entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Adjective

offensiveCategory:Swedish non-lemma forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Swedish adjective forms#OFFENSIVECategory:Swedish entries with incorrect language header#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with entries#OFFENSIVECategory:Pages with 8 entries#OFFENSIVE

1. definite natural masculine singular of offensiv