Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Causing anger, displeasure, or resentment.
  • adjective Disagreeable to the senses.
  • adjective Making a physical or military attack.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or designed for attack.
  • adjective Sports Of or relating to a team having possession of a ball or puck.
  • noun An attitude or position of attack.
  • noun A physical or military attack or assault.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Serving to offend, assail, or attack; used in attack: opposed to defensive: as, offensive weapons.
  • Consisting in or proceeding by attack; assailant; invading; aggressive: opposed to defensive.
  • Serving to injure; injurious.
  • Causing or giving offense; fitted or intended to offend or give displeasure; provocative of displeasure; insulting; annoying; displeasing: as, an offensive remark; offensive behavior.
  • Disgusting; disagreeable; giving pain or unpleasant sensations: as, an offensive smell.
  • noun With the definite article: An aggressive attitude or course of operations; a posture of attack: as, to act on or assume the offensive.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state or posture of one who offends or makes attack; aggressive attitude; the act of the attacking party; -- opposed to defensive.
  • noun to be the attacking party; to initiate hostilities.
  • adjective Giving offense; causing displeasure or resentment; displeasing; annoying.
  • adjective Giving pain or unpleasant sensations; disagreeable; revolting; noxious
  • adjective Making the first attack; assailant; aggressive; hence, used in attacking; -- opposed to defensive
  • adjective a leaque that requires all the parties to it to make war together against any foe, and to defend one another if attacked.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, or hatred.
  • adjective Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.
  • adjective team sports Having to do with play directed at scoring.
  • noun countable, military An attack.
  • noun uncountable The posture of attacking or being able to attack.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective violating or tending to violate or offend against
  • adjective unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses
  • adjective causing anger or annoyance
  • adjective causing or able to cause nausea
  • adjective morally offensive
  • adjective for the purpose of attack rather than defense
  • adjective substitute a harsher or distasteful term for a mild one
  • noun the action of attacking an enemy

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French offensif, from Latin as if *offensivus, from offendere ("to offend"), past participle offensus; see offend.

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Examples

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  • In some cultures, it's offensive to take pictures of people without their permission.

    May 20, 2009