Offensive Meaning
/əˈfɛnsɪv/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjCausing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.
adjRelating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.
Sentence Examples
The instant I open the lid an offensive smell greets my nose.
We recoiled from the enemy's offensive.
I hear a noise offensive to the ear.
CEFR Practice Quiz
His rude comments during the meeting were so ____ that many people left.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The general launched a major military ____ along the northern border at dawn.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2016 September 12, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Political Incorrectness Is Just a Strategy”, in Time:
"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."
— 2025 May 15, “Europe’s free-speech problem”, in The Economist:
"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."
— 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 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."
— 1939 January, Lin Yu, “The "China Incident"”, in Philippine Magazine, volume XXXVI, number 1, →OCLC, page 121:
"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."
— 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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His rude comments during the meeting were so ____ that many people left.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The general launched a major military ____ along the northern border at dawn.