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
Chris Hays, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2025
But doing so could hamper them from signing other free agents for needy areas like the offensive line and defensive secondary.
—Nick Halter, Axios, 24 Feb. 2025
Mohammad Jahjouh, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Israel has also conducted multiple military offensives against Palestinian militants in the West Bank following a Jan. 19 ceasefire.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Adjective
Another athlete expected to dominate was The First Academy’s offensive lineman Chancellor Barclay, who performed as some expected and earned the O-Line MVP honor.
—Chris Hays, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2025
But doing so could hamper them from signing other free agents for needy areas like the offensive line and defensive secondary.
—Nick Halter, Axios, 24 Feb. 2025
Noun
Israel’s military offensive killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records.
—Mohammad Jahjouh, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Israel has also conducted multiple military offensives against Palestinian militants in the West Bank following a Jan. 19 ceasefire.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offensive
Adjective
-
Selena Gomez has called out 'disgusting' weight shame As a former child star who grew up in the public eye, Gomez has long been subjected to conversations surrounding her weight.—
Jay Stahl,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2025
-
The desire to avoid portraying her character’s actions as simply disgusting led de Van to play the lead role herself, in spite of the challenges that created for her as a first-time feature director.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
And that very relationship between star and star vehicle is why Chalamet’s speech is the opposite of obnoxious.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
24 Feb. 2025
-
As the latest batch of Kennedys turns out to be dangerous at worst (RFK Jr.) or obnoxious at best (Kyra), his seeming composure, intelligence, and level-headedness during a speech at the DNC offered some hope that not all political nepo babies might be so bad.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
10 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that left 1,200 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostage.—
Samy Magdy and David Rising,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Mar. 2025
-
But in light of ongoing attacks against PayPal accounts using emails sent from genuine PayPal addresses, how will this help protect you from hackers and scammers?—
Davey Winder,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Or the constitutional dystopia in which we are now caught, beside which even the ugliest onscreen villainy pales into insignificance?—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2025
-
The advanced metrics paint an ugly picture for the Suns as well over that span: 114.0 OffRtg (11th), 117.3 DefRtg (27th), -3.2 NetRtg (21st).—
Evan Sidery,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Environmental groups have long opposed the new reservoir and objected to a shorter judicial review, saying the project will release unacceptable amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air in addition to other adverse impacts.—
Ari Plachta,
Sacramento Bee,
28 Feb. 2025
-
The alternative — courts that fail to protect our fundamental rights — is unacceptable.—
Peter Martin,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The raid, which included dismantling the working 103 kilogram, 18-karat gold toilet, titled America (2016), took only five minutes.—
Francesca Aton,
ARTnews.com,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Related article Three men on trial over $6 million gold toilet stolen in ‘audacious raid’ Estele and his wife hope to build a new house with their half of the money, Debuisson said.—
Jack Guy,
CNN,
25 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
For a large part, the Heat’s supporting pieces have been awful this season.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Hollywood continued to celebrate the fearless first responders who worked to save lives and property during the awful Los Angeles wildfires last month.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The site that gave us milkshake duck (shorthand for discovering an overnight celebrity’s racist, sexist, or otherwise objectionable posts) has, post-2022, contributed noticeably less in the way of argot.—
Dan Brooks,
The Atlantic,
21 Feb. 2025
-
In his first go-around as president, his name was considered so objectionable that six residential buildings on Riverside Boulevard went to great effort and expense (costs were estimated at as high as $1 million per building) to remove it from their facades.—
Kim Velsey,
Curbed,
29 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Offensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offensive. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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