offensive

EnglishEdit

English Wikipedia has an article on:

offensive

Alternative formsEdit

offencive (obsolete)

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

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

AdjectiveEdit

offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)

Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, or hatred.
- 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 notesEdit

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

SynonymsEdit

aggressive
invidious (Intending to cause envious offense)

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

causing offense

Armenian: վիրավորական (hy) (viravorakan)
Belarusian: абра́злівы (abrázlivy)
Bulgarian: оскърби́телен (bg) (oskǎrbítelen), оби́ден (bg) (obíden)
Catalan: ofensiu (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 有攻擊性 (zh), 有攻击性 (zh) (yoǔgōngjīxìng), 冒犯的 (zh) (màofàn de)
Czech: urážlivý (cs)
Danish: stødende, anstødelig
Dutch: weerzinwekkend (nl), walgelijk (nl), beledigend (nl)
Esperanto: ofenda
Finnish: hyökkäävä (fi), päällekäyvä, loukkaava (fi) (hurtful)
French: offensant (fr)
Galician: ofensivo
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: beleidigend (de)
Greek: προσβλητικός (el) (prosvlitikós)
Hungarian: sértő (hu), bántó (hu), goromba (hu), durva (hu)
Ido: ofensanta (io), ofensiva (io), ofensema (io), desagreabla (io)
Indonesian: menyinggung (id), tidak sopan
Japanese: 攻撃的な (ja) (kōgekiteki na), 気に障る (ja) (ki ni sawaru), 侮辱的な (ja) (ぶじょくてきな, bujokuteki na)
Khmer: please add this translation if you can

Latin: taeter, offensus, repudiōsus
Macedonian: навредлив (navredliv)
Maori: weriweri, hākiki, mataharehare, koeo (of an odour), pūraurau (of speech), taratara, harehare (by saying things), penopeno (of odour), harehare
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Occitan: ofensant
Plautdietsch: prost
Polish: obraźliwy (pl)
Portuguese: ofensivo (pt)
Romanian: ofensant (ro)
Russian: оскорби́тельный (ru) (oskorbítelʹnyj), оби́дный (ru) (obídnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: oilbheumach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: уврѐдљив

Roman: uvrèdljiv (sh)
Slovene: please add this translation if you can
Spanish: ofensivo (es)
Swedish: stötande (sv), anstötlig (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: обра́зливий (obrázlyvyj)
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

relating to attack, offense

Belarusian: наступа́льны (nastupálʹny)
Bulgarian: нападателен (bg) (napadatelen)
Danish: offensiv
Esperanto: ofensiva (eo)
French: offensif (fr)
Galician: ofensivo
Greek: επιθετικός (el) (epithetikós)
Hungarian: támadó (hu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: offensiv

Nynorsk: offensiv

Occitan: ofensiu
Polish: ofensywny (pl)
Portuguese: ofensivo (pt)
Russian: наступа́тельный (ru) (nastupátelʹnyj)
Spanish: ofensiva (es) f
Swedish: offensiv (sv)
Ukrainian: наступа́льний (nastupálʹnyj)

team sports: having to do with play directed at scoring

Bulgarian: нападателен (bg) (napadatelen)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 進攻性的, 进攻性的 (jìngōngxìng de)
Danish: offensiv
Dutch: aanvallend (nl), offensief (nl)
Finnish: hyökkäävä (fi), hyökkäys-
French: offensif (fr)
Galician: ofensivo
German: offensiv (de)
Italian: offensivo (it)
Japanese: 攻撃側の (kōgekigawa no)

Norwegian:
Bokmål: offensiv

Nynorsk: offensiv
Occitan: ofensiu
Portuguese: ofensivo (pt)
Russian: наступа́тельный (ru) (nastupátelʹnyj)
Spanish: ofensivo (es)
Swedish: offensiv (sv)

NounEdit

offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)

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

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

an attack

Armenian: գրոհ (hy) (groh)
Azerbaijani: hücum (az)
Belarusian: на́ступ m (nástup), ата́ка f (atáka)
Bulgarian: атака (bg) f (ataka), настъпление (bg) n (nastǎplenie)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 進攻 (zh), 进攻 (zh) (jìngōng), 攻勢 (zh), 攻势 (zh) (gōngshì)
Czech: ofenzíva f, útok (cs) m
Danish: offensiv c
Dutch: offensief (nl) n, aanval (nl) m, inval (nl) m
Esperanto: ofensivo
Finnish: hyökkäys (fi), offensiivi (fi)
French: offensive (fr) f
German: Offensive (de) f, Angriff (de) m
Hungarian: támadás (hu), offenzíva (hu)
Igbo: offensive

Japanese: 攻撃 (ja) (こうげき, kōgeki), 攻勢 (こうせい, kōsei)
Korean: 공세 (ko) (gongse)
Malayalam: ആക്രമണം (ml) (ākramaṇaṃ)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: offensiv m

Nynorsk: offensiv m
Occitan: ofensiva
Polish: ofensywa (pl) f, atak (pl) m
Portuguese: ofensiva (pt) f
Romanian: ofensivă (ro) f, atac (ro) n
Russian: наступле́ние (ru) n (nastuplénije), ата́ка (ru) f (atáka)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: офанзива f

Roman: ofanziva (sh) f
Spanish: ofensiva (es) f
Swedish: offensiv (sv) c
Ukrainian: на́ступ m (nástup), ата́ка (uk) f (atáka)

posture of attack

Dutch: klaar om aan te vallen
Finnish: hyökkäyskannalla (adverb)
French: offensive (fr) f
Italian: offensiva (it) f

Occitan: ofensiva
Portuguese: ofensiva (pt) f
Romanian: ofensivă (ro) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked