1
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
I find your disrespectful attitude toward religion very offensive the smell of rotting food is quite offensive
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obnoxious
provoking or likely to provoke protest
insensitive, offensive remarks about the plight of the homeless
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in attack
the act or action of setting upon with force or violence
the primary offensive by the ground forces will commence at dawn tomorrow
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of offensive
Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024
The Chargers paid a steep price for a sluggish offensive start and late defensive lapses.
—Elliott Teaford, Orange County Register, 8 Dec. 2024
Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2024
The swift rebel campaign started less than two weeks ago, when fighters launched a series of lightning offensives — first capturing the northern city of Aleppo and then advancing south toward the regime centers of power, as uprisings broke out in large swaths of the country.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for offensive 
Adjective
Dailey missed a box-out on a free throw, leading to an offensive rebound and a three-pointer.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024
The Chargers paid a steep price for a sluggish offensive start and late defensive lapses.
—Elliott Teaford, Orange County Register, 8 Dec. 2024
Noun
Instead, Turkey backed the rebel coalition’s offensive, with weapons and intelligence support.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2024
The swift rebel campaign started less than two weeks ago, when fighters launched a series of lightning offensives — first capturing the northern city of Aleppo and then advancing south toward the regime centers of power, as uprisings broke out in large swaths of the country.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for offensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offensive
Adjective
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That ends up dislodging the disgusting foreign item in Larry's throat.Esther Zuckerman, TIME, 12 Dec. 2024
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Leigh goes for the gags in this one, from Broadbent’s workplace pratfall to friend of the family Aubrey’s (Timothy Spall) disgusting new restaurant.Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Like, watched it all the way through from the shrill opening filled with obnoxious kids to the leadenly staged slapstick climax?Keith Phipps, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024
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Although the court was an obnoxious shade of yellow to signify and celebrate the NBA Cup occasion, Denver was officially eliminated from the group stage of the in-season tournament by halftime, due to other results around the league.Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 3 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Rod Metzer eventually pleaded guilty to 14 counts relating to the attack on Morgan Metzer.Michael Loftus, CBS News, 13 Dec. 2024
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Iranian tactics Iran and Israel have been waging a shadow espionage war for decades, using spies and informants to gather intelligence to carry out attacks against each other.Zeena Saifi, CNN, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In a Hungarian cartoon from around 1951, Churchill is seen as an ugly villain, ready to set households and factories on fire.Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024
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For many people, finding the perfect ugly Christmas sweater is an annual tradition.Shea Simmons, People.com, 12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This time difference is unacceptable and the cause of many breaches.Austin Gadient, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
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During Tuesday’s meeting, board members agreed that Morris’ remark was unacceptable.Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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After the raid, a lot of her customers never came back to Morton.Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR, 9 Dec. 2024
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The case became public last week when The Intercept published an article on the raid and the letter was released.DAN ROSENZWEIG-ZIFF THE WASHINGTON POST, arkansasonline.com, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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As a unit, the Bengals defense has been awful, only scoring four PPG, which is the 4th least in the NFL.Steve Bradshaw, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
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But even if the company succeeds, internet users have a way of pushing the boundaries of new tools like this until every possible awful output has been demonstrated.Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 10 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Gaetz was the most objectionable among a group of nominees who would have faced immediate disqualification during an earlier era.Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
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The opening foreward of the book points out that some of the content might be objectionable to some modern audiences.Rob Wieland, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near offensive
Cite this Entry
“Offensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offensive. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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