offensive

See also: Offensive

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

offensive

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• offencive (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈfɛnsɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (sports): (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/

Adjective

offensive (comparative more offensive, superlative most offensive)

1. Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.

   Antonym: inoffensive

   Some people find pornography offensive.

   An offensive smell.

   • 2016 September 12, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Political Incorrectness Is Just a Strategy”, in Time‎:

     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.

   • 2025 May 15, “Europe’s free-speech problem”, in The Economist‎:

     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.

2. Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.

   Antonym: defensive

   The army's offensive capabilities. An offensive weapon.

   • 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.

3. (sports) Having to do with play directed at scoring.

   The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.

Synonyms

• aggressive
• invidious (Intending to cause envious offense)
• unheard-of

Derived terms

• counter-offensive
• inoffensive
• nonoffensive
• non-offensive
• offensive and defensive alliance
• offensive back
• offensive foul
• offensive guard
• offensive line
• offensive line of scrimmage
• offensively
• offensiveness
• offensive tackle
• offensive to pious ears
• offensive zone
• unoffensive

Related terms

• offend
• offense

Collocations

with nouns

• offensive content
• offensive language
• offensive material
• offensive word
• offensive comment
• offensive remark
• offensive statement
• offensive speech
• offensive joke
• offensive humor
• offensive image
• offensive picture
• offensive art
• offensive behavior
• offensive conduct
• offensive act
• offensive action

Translations

causing offense

Armenian: վիրավորական (hy) (viravorakan) Azerbaijani: təhqiramiz, təhqiredici, incidici, alçaldıcı Belarusian: абра́злівы (abrázlivy) Bulgarian: оскърби́телен (bg) (oskǎrbítelen), оби́ден (bg) (obíden) Catalan: ofensiu (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 有攻擊性 / 有攻击性 (zh) (yǒugōngjīxìng), 冒犯的 (zh) (màofàn de) Czech: urážlivý (cs) Danish: stødende, anstødelig Dutch: beledigend (nl), weerzinwekkend (nl), walgelijk (nl) Esperanto: ofenda Finnish: hyökkäävä (fi), päällekäyvä, loukkaava (fi) (hurtful) French: offensant (fr) Galician: ofensivo Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: beleidigend (de) Greek: προσβλητικός (el) (prosvlitikós) Hungarian: sértő (hu), bántó (hu), goromba (hu), durva (hu) Ido: ofensanta (io), ofensiva (io), ofensema (io), desagreabla (io) Indonesian: menyinggung (id), tidak sopan Japanese: 攻撃的な (ja) (kōgekiteki na), 気に障る (ja) (ki ni sawaru), 侮辱的な (ja) (ぶじょくてきな, bujokuteki na) Khmer: please add this translation if you can Latin: taeter, offensus, repudiōsus Macedonian: навредлив (navredliv) Maori: weriweri, hākiki, mataharehare, koeo (of an odour), pūraurau (of speech), taratara, harehare (by saying things), penopeno (of odour), harehare, mōrihariha, mōrikarika Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Occitan: ofensant Plautdietsch: prost Polish: obraźliwy (pl) Portuguese: ofensivo (pt) Romanian: ofensant (ro) Russian: оскорби́тельный (ru) (oskorbítelʹnyj), оби́дный (ru) (obídnyj) Scottish Gaelic: oilbheumach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: уврѐдљив Roman: uvrèdljiv (sh) Slovene: please add this translation if you can Spanish: ofensivo (es) Swedish: stötande (sv), anstötlig (sv) Tagalog: nakasasakit, opensibo Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: обра́зливий (obrázlyvyj) Vietnamese: xúc phạm (vi), sỉ nhục (vi)

relating to attack, offense

Belarusian: наступа́льны (nastupálʹny) Bulgarian: нападателен (bg) (napadatelen) Danish: offensiv Dutch: offensief (nl) Esperanto: ofensiva (eo) French: offensif (fr) Galician: ofensivo Greek: επιθετικός (el) (epithetikós) Hungarian: támadó (hu) Norwegian: Bokmål: offensiv Nynorsk: offensiv Occitan: ofensiu (oc) Polish: ofensywny (pl) Portuguese: ofensivo (pt) Russian: наступа́тельный (ru) (nastupátelʹnyj) Spanish: ofensiva (es) f Swedish: offensiv (sv) Ukrainian: наступа́льний (nastupálʹnyj)

team sports: having to do with play directed at scoring

Bulgarian: нападателен (bg) (napadatelen) Chinese: Mandarin: 進攻性的 / 进攻性的 (jìngōngxìng de) Danish: offensiv Dutch: aanvallend (nl), offensief (nl) Finnish: hyökkäävä (fi), hyökkäys- French: offensif (fr) Galician: ofensivo German: offensiv (de) Greek: επιθετικός (el) (epithetikós) Italian: offensivo (it) Japanese: 攻撃側の (kōgekigawa no) Norwegian: Bokmål: offensiv Nynorsk: offensiv Occitan: ofensiu (oc) Portuguese: ofensivo (pt) Russian: наступа́тельный (ru) (nastupátelʹnyj) Spanish: ofensivo (es) Swedish: offensiv (sv)

Noun

offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)

1. (countable, military) An attack.

   The Marines today launched a major offensive.

   • 1939 January, Lin Yu, “The "China Incident"”, in Philippine Magazine‎, volume XXXVI, number 1, →OCLC, page 121:

     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.

2. (uncountable) The posture of attacking or being able to attack.

   He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.

Derived terms

• charm offensive
• counter-offensive
• prawn cocktail offensive
• take the offensive

Translations

an attack

Afrikaans: offensief Albanian: ofensivë (sq) f, sulm (sq) m Arabic: هُجُوم m (hujūm), حَمْلَة f (ḥamla), هَجْمَة f (hajma) Armenian: գրոհ (hy) (groh), հարձակում (hy) (harjakum) Azerbaijani: hücum (az), həmlə Bashkir: һөжүм (höjüm) Belarusian: на́ступ m (nástup), ата́ка f (atáka) Bulgarian: ата́ка (bg) f (atáka), настъпле́ние (bg) n (nastǎplénie) Chinese: Mandarin: 進攻 / 进攻 (zh) (jìngōng), 攻勢 / 攻势 (zh) (gōngshì) Czech: ofenzíva f, útok (cs) m, napadení n Danish: offensiv c Dutch: offensief (nl) n, aanval (nl) m, inval (nl) m Esperanto: ofensivo Estonian: pealetung, ofensiiv Finnish: hyökkäys (fi), offensiivi (fi) French: offensive (fr) f Georgian: შეტევა (šeṭeva), იერიში (ka) (ieriši) German: Offensive (de) f, Angriff (de) m Hebrew: הַתְקָפָה f (hatkafá) Hindi: हमला (hi) m (hamlā), आक्रमण (hi) m (ākramaṇ) Hungarian: támadás (hu), offenzíva (hu) Igbo: offensive Japanese: 攻撃 (ja) (こうげき, kōgeki), 攻勢 (ja) (こうせい, kōsei) Kazakh: шабуыл (şabuyl) Korean: 공격(攻擊) (ko) (gonggyeok), 공세(攻勢) (ko) (gongse) Kyrgyz: чабуул (ky) (cabuul) Latvian: ofensīva f, uzbrukums m Lithuanian: ofenzyva f, puolimas m Macedonian: офанзи́ва f (ofanzíva), напад m (napad) Malay: ofensif Malayalam: ആക്രമണം (ml) (ākramaṇaṁ) Mongolian: Cyrillic: дайралт (mn) (dajralt) Norwegian: Bokmål: offensiv m Nynorsk: offensiv m Occitan: ofensiva (oc) Pashto: حمله (ps) f (hamla), هجوم m (hojum) Persian: هجوم (fa) (hojum), حمله (fa) (hamle) Polish: ofensywa (pl) f, atak (pl) m Portuguese: ofensiva (pt) f Romanian: ofensivă (ro) f, atac (ro) n Russian: наступле́ние (ru) n (nastuplénije), ата́ка (ru) f (atáka) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: офензи́ва f, офанзи́ва f, на́пад m Roman: ofenzíva (sh) f, ofanzíva (sh) f, nápad (sh) m Slovak: ofenzíva f, útok m, napadnutie n Slovene: ofenziva f, napad (sl) m Spanish: ofensiva (es) f Swedish: offensiv (sv) c Tajik: ҳуҷум (hujum), ҳамла (hamla) Tatar: һөҗүм (tt) (höcüm) Thai: การโจมตี (th) (gaan-joom-dtii) Turkish: saldırı (tr), hücum (tr), hamle (tr) Turkmen: hüjüm Ukrainian: на́ступ m (nástup), ата́ка (uk) f (atáka), офензи́ва (uk) f (ofenzýva) Urdu: حملہ m (hamlā) Uyghur: ھۇجۇم (hujum) Uzbek: hujum (uz), hamla (uz) Vietnamese: sự tấn công (vi)

posture of attack

Dutch: (please verify) klaar om aan te vallen Finnish: hyökkäyskannalla (adverb) French: offensive (fr) f Italian: offensiva (it) f Occitan: ofensiva (oc) Portuguese: ofensiva (pt) f Romanian: ofensivă (ro) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Further reading

• “offensive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “offensive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Danish

Adjective

offensive

1. plural and definite singular attributive of offensiv

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.fɑ̃.siv/
• Homophone: offensives

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

First attested 1417; formed from offense, from Latin offēnsare (“to strike against”).

Noun

offensive f (plural offensives)

1. (military) offensive (an attack)

Derived terms

• offensive terrestre

Descendants

• → German: Offensive

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

offensive

1. feminine singular of offensif

Further reading

• “offensive”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

offensive

1. inflection of offensiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /of.fenˈsi.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: of‧fen‧sì‧ve

Adjective

offensive

1. feminine plural of offensivo

Noun

offensive f

1. plural of offensiva

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

offensive

1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

offensive

1. definite singular/plural of offensiv

Swedish

Adjective

offensive

1. definite natural masculine singular of offensiv