Library / English Dictionary

OFFEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to feel resentment or indignation

Example:

Her tactless remark offended me

Synonyms:

offend; pique

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

anger (make angry)

Cause:

resent (feel bitter or indignant about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

offence (a feeling of anger caused by being offended)

offensive (causing anger or annoyance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hurt the feelings of

Example:

This remark really bruised my ego

Synonyms:

bruise; hurt; injure; offend; spite; wound

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "offend"):

affront; diss; insult (treat, mention, or speak to rudely)

lacerate (deeply hurt the feelings of; distress)

sting (cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging)

abase; chagrin; humble; humiliate; mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot offend Sue

Derivation:

offence; offense (a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others)

offensive (causing anger or annoyance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Strike with disgust or revulsion

Example:

The scandalous behavior of this married woman shocked her friends

Synonyms:

appal; appall; offend; outrage; scandalise; scandalize; shock

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

churn up; disgust; nauseate; revolt; sicken (cause aversion in; offend the moral sense of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will offend him

The performance is likely to offend Sue

Derivation:

offensive (unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses)

offensive (morally offensive)

offensive (causing or able to cause nausea)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises

Example:

break a promise

Synonyms:

breach; break; go against; infract; offend; transgress; violate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

disrespect (show a lack of respect for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "offend"):

sin; transgress; trespass (commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law)

blunder; boob; drop the ball; goof; sin (commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake)

conflict; contravene; infringe; run afoul (go against, as of rules and laws)

trespass (break the law)

intrude; trespass (enter unlawfully on someone's property)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

offence (a transgression that constitutes a violation of what is judged to be right)

offender (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)

offense (a transgression that constitutes a violation of what is judged to be right)

offensive (morally offensive)

offensive (violating or tending to violate or offend against)

Credits

 Context examples: 

White Fang sprang in a rage at the throat of the offending horse, but was checked by the master's voice.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Surely it will offend your readers, and surely that is why the editors are justified in refusing your work.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

You had better neglect your relations than run the risk of offending your patroness.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

She spoke, and seemed only to offend.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“Can it not!” she cried, pretending to be offended.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You won’t be offended, Watson?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could only look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my eyes.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Bleeding that is disproportionate to the offending trauma.

(Easy Bleeding, NCI Thesaurus)

The adaptive immune response kicks in more slowly to build an army of cells that can target specific offending pathogens.

(Rapid-response immune cells are fully prepared before invasion strikes, NIH)

Why, good dame, said Alleyne, I would not offend the customs of your house, but it is only sooth when I say that my purse is a thin one.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)