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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obnoxious
provoking or likely to provoke protest
insensitive, offensive remarks about the plight of the homeless
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of offensive
Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2025
Rounding out the bottom five are Super Bowl 37, in which the Buccaneers defense picked off Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon five times, and Super Bowl 35, when the Baltimore Ravens held the New York Giants to no offensive touchdowns.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 10 Feb. 2025
Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Jan. 2025
In late November, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham began a lightning offensive, sweeping out of its enclave in northwestern Syria and seizing Aleppo and other key cities before capturing Damascus.
—Warren P. Strobel, arkansasonline.com, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Adjective
Chaos ensued after Gascón’s offensive posts about Muslims and George Floyd went viral last month.
—Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2025
Rounding out the bottom five are Super Bowl 37, in which the Buccaneers defense picked off Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon five times, and Super Bowl 35, when the Baltimore Ravens held the New York Giants to no offensive touchdowns.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 10 Feb. 2025
Noun
As the United Nations and international partners bring in over 600 trucks of food and medical aid each day, the most since Israel launched its offensive in October 2023, residents are reporting a drop in looting and price gouging.
—Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Jan. 2025
In late November, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham began a lightning offensive, sweeping out of its enclave in northwestern Syria and seizing Aleppo and other key cities before capturing Damascus.
—Warren P. Strobel, arkansasonline.com, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offensive
Adjective
-
That’s crazy to me: divine love shown to us through a disgusting and emaciated corpse hanging on a tool of execution.—
Mike Lowenberg,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
-
What happens when a social influencer builds her entire rep on a disgusting lie?—
Randy Myers,
The Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
There’s also the Ratliff family, consisting of wealthy Southerner Timothy (Jason Isaacs), his pill-popping wife, Victoria (Parker Posey), and their three kids: obnoxious bro Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), religious studies major Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola), the youngest.—
Meredith Blake,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2025
-
Shirley is young and obnoxious, compulsively going live on Instagram and carrying her phone around on a little beaded leash.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Fierce fighting and long-range attacks continued as Kyiv and Moscow prepare for the revival of talks.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2025
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Incidents like the recent attack where a woman was set on fire while sleeping on a subway train have heightened public fear.—
Paul Dreyer,
New York Daily News,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Since winning at Boise State on Jan. 4 and blowing out Air Force at home four days later, the season had become a grind – a double-digit loss at New Mexico, a rare home loss against UNLV, a string of ugly wins against the Mountain West’s bottom-feeders after overcoming dangerously large deficits.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Feb. 2025
-
Aside from being ugly, your chocolate will be grainy and crumbly and a little sad.—
Matthew Korfhage,
WIRED,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Many of them will likely be seen in Kyiv as unacceptable.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN,
18 Feb. 2025
-
Without any supporting facts alleging, political impropriety, unacceptable public safety threats, national security concerns, and the potential failure of not executing federal immigration initiatives and policies, all of which will have an impact on Adams’ ability to govern NYC.—
Arnold Kriss,
New York Daily News,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Courtesy of Netflix When the raid was going on, a Somali woman named Halima recalls being at a nearby school with 20 children huddled on top of her, vomiting and passing out.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
TIME,
10 Feb. 2025
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Glas, who is twice convicted for corruption, had been seeking asylum from Mexico when the raid took place.—
Max Saltman,
CNN,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Vanderbilt Profile Strengths: Competitive metrics, no bad losses, headliner wins vs. Kentucky and Tennessee. Profile Weaknesses: No key road/neutral wins, awful nonconference SOS.—
Jim Root,
The Athletic,
13 Feb. 2025
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My heart was already pounding from the awful climb, but there was a sudden thrill and exhilaration.—
Frank C. Hibben,
Outdoor Life,
13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Sophos and Trend Micro Antivirus let parents filter objectionable content from their children's devices.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
6 Feb. 2025
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Those who find Trump’s mixing of politics and marketing objectionable are swimming against the cultural zeitgeist.—
Eric Heavner,
Baltimore Sun,
18 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Offensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offensive. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.
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