offensive
See also: Offensive
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- offencive (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French offensif, from Medieval Latin offensivus, from Latin offendere (“to offend”), past participle offensus; see offend.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)
- Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, or hatred.
- Some people find pornography offensive.
- 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.
- (sports) Having to do with play directed at scoring.
- The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.
Usage notesEdit
- 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.
SynonymsEdit
- aggressive
- invidious (Intending to cause envious offense)
AntonymsEdit
- inoffensive (not causing offense or disgust)
- defensive (relating or causing defence)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
causing offense
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relating to attack, offense
team sports: having to do with play directed at scoring
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.
TranslationsEdit
an attack
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posture of attack
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Further readingEdit
- offensive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- offensive in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
DanishEdit
FrenchEdit
AdjectiveEdit
offensive
NounEdit
offensive f (plural offensives)
- An offensive (military attack).
Further readingEdit
- “offensive” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).