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OFFENSIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The action of attacking an enemy
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("offensive" is a kind of...):
military operation; operation (activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "offensive"):
counteroffensive (a large scale offensive (more than a counterattack) undertaken by a defending force to seize the initiative from an attacking force)
dirty war (an offensive conducted by secret police or the military of a regime against revolutionary and terrorist insurgents and marked by the use of kidnapping and torture and murder with civilians often being the victims)
push back; rollback (the act of forcing the enemy to withdraw)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses
Example:
offensive odors
Classified under:
Similar:
verminous (of the nature of vermin; very offensive or repulsive)
scrimy (dirty and disgusting)
rank (very offensive in smell or taste)
objectionable; obnoxious (causing disapproval or protest)
hideous; horrid; horrific; outrageous (grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror)
ghoulish; morbid (suggesting the horror of death and decay)
disgustful; disgusting; distasteful; foul; loathly; loathsome; repellant; repellent; repelling; revolting; skanky; wicked; yucky (highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust)
creepy (annoying and unpleasant)
charnel; ghastly; sepulchral (gruesomely indicative of death or the dead)
abhorrent; detestable; obscene; repugnant; repulsive (offensive to the mind)
Also:
hateful (evoking or deserving hatred)
evil (morally bad or wrong)
unpalatable (not pleasant or acceptable to the taste or mind)
unpleasant (offensive or disagreeable; causing discomfort or unhappiness)
Attribute:
distastefulness; odiousness; offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Antonym:
inoffensive (giving no offense)
Derivation:
offend (strike with disgust or revulsion)
offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Morally offensive
Example:
an unsavory scandal
Synonyms:
offensive; unsavory; unsavoury
Classified under:
Derivation:
offend (strike with disgust or revulsion)
offend (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises)
offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Causing anger or annoyance
Example:
offensive remarks
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
abusive; opprobrious; scurrilous (expressing offensive reproach)
Also:
harmful (causing or capable of causing harm)
disrespectful (exhibiting lack of respect; rude and discourteous)
Attribute:
distastefulness; odiousness; offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Antonym:
inoffensive (not causing anger or annoyance)
Derivation:
offend (cause to feel resentment or indignation)
offend (hurt the feelings of)
offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Sense 4
Meaning:
For the purpose of attack rather than defense
Example:
offensive weapons
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
antipersonnel (designed to inflict death or personal injury rather than material destruction)
assaultive; attacking (disposed to attack)
hit-and-run; tip-and-run (designed for or consisting of a brief attack followed by a quick escape)
incursive; invading; invasive (involving invasion or aggressive attack)
marauding; predatory; raiding (characterized by plundering or pillaging or marauding)
on the offensive (actively attacking)
Also:
aggressive (having or showing determination and energetic pursuit of your ends)
hostile (characterized by enmity or ill will)
Antonym:
defensive (intended or appropriate for defending against or deterring aggression or attack)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Violating or tending to violate or offend against
Example:
considered such depravity offensive against all laws of humanity
Synonyms:
offensive; violative
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
offending (offending against or breaking a law or rule)
Derivation:
offend (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises)
offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Causing or able to cause nausea
Example:
a sickening stench
Synonyms:
loathsome; nauseating; nauseous; noisome; offensive; queasy; sickening; vile
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unwholesome (detrimental to physical or moral well-being)
Derivation:
offend (strike with disgust or revulsion)
offensiveness (the quality of being offensive)
Context examples:
Yet, the smell of a Yahoo continuing very offensive, I always keep my nose well stopped with rue, lavender, or tobacco leaves.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I had gone up to ask him about you, and he was very offensive; accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, and that sort of thing.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My dear, said Mr. Micawber, with some heat, it may be better for me to state distinctly, at once, that if I were to develop my views to that assembled group, they would possibly be found of an offensive nature: my impression being that your family are, in the aggregate, impertinent Snobs; and, in detail, unmitigated Ruffians.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Holmes’s ideas of humour are strange and occasionally offensive, so I took no notice of his ill-timed jest—indeed, I had already reached Montpellier in my pursuit of the maid, Marie, before his message came.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
So it was that White Fang's method when he took the offensive, was: first to find a young dog alone; second, to surprise it and knock it off its feet; and third, to drive in with his teeth at the soft throat.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
I need not say that any publicity given to such an idea—any levity in your narrative of what occurred—would be exceedingly offensive to me.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
In the first place, he must make such an agreement for tithes as may be beneficial to himself and not offensive to his patron.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Yes; it is in two points offensive to me; I have two strong grounds of objection to it.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
After the latter the animal was ready to burst, and made so violent a discharge as was very offensive to me and my companion.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
From his manner it struck me that he was in mortal dread of something or somebody, but when I questioned him upon the point he became so offensive that I was compelled to drop the subject.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
