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offend

[uh-fend]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

to irritate, annoy, or anger; cause resentful displeasure in: Even the hint of prejudice offends me.

to affect (the sense, taste, etc.) disagreeably.

to violate or transgress (a criminal, religious, or moral law).

to hurt or cause pain to.

(in Biblical use) to cause to fall into sinful ways.

verb (used without object)

to cause resentful displeasure; irritate, annoy, or anger: a remark so thoughtless it can only offend.

to err in conduct; commit a sin, crime, or fault.

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Offend is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

chat, to converse

to spend time idly; loaf.

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Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English offenden < Middle French offendre < Latin offendere to strike against, displease, equivalent to of- of- + -fendere to strike

Related forms

of·fend·a·ble, adjective

of·fend·ed·ly, adverb

of·fend·ed·ness, noun

of·fend·er, noun

half-of·fend·ed, adjective

EXPAND

non·of·fend·er, noun

o·ver·of·fend, verb (used with object)

pre·of·fend, verb (used with object)

re·of·fend, verb

un·of·fend·a·ble, adjective

un·of·fend·ed, adjective

un·of·fend·ing, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. provoke, chafe, nettle, affront, insult. 7. transgress.

Antonyms
1. please.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To offend

Example Sentences

In voicing this mild, admittedly personal opinion, it was certainly never my intention to offend readers.

The provocateurs knew their audience's sensibilities and how to offend them for a childish laugh.

Anyway, verbatim, their words might offend readers of a family newspaper.

EXPAND

In voicing this mild, admittedly personal opinion, it was certainly never my intention to offend readers.

The provocateurs knew their audience's sensibilities and how to offend them for a childish laugh.

Anyway, verbatim, their words might offend readers of a family newspaper.

But it didn't offend me because they weren't doing it to be menacing.

To not offend they supergroup of behaviors can be called tradition.

He could also offend people, and he did so frequently.

It is easy to offend so you must be ever alert to the impact not only of what you say, but how you say it.

Businessmen fear punitive tax demands if, say, they offend an official.

The sidebars offer advice from how and what to pack to money smarts to how not to offend the locals.

How easy it is to manipulate those mortally afraid to offend.

Sometimes even a perfectly legitimate reason for moving schools will offend these people.

Yet all the ministers were fretfully anxious not to offend the uninvited.

Know the local taboos so that you don't accidentally offend someone.

Something to offend everyone, it appears from the excerpts.

Each programme must please a lot of people a bit, and cannot afford to offend anybody.

Many leave prison to return to the same environment which saw them offend in the first place.

It's the nature of politics that some views offend those who hold opposite views.

None of these has any context to offend or hurt others.

But it is not in film makers' interest to offend against tradition.

It's to our standards that torture, suspension of habeas corpus, imprisonment without trial and omitting due process offend.

The upshot of all this is that the expedition manages not to offend modern sensibilities.

Anyone who has an unapproved opinion is not allowed to express it because it might offend people.

Now they are more likely to offend by snatching a songbird from a backyard.

Your phone volume is mute because you don't want to offend the client.

Altman didn't want to offend the sensibilities of his neighbors.

My theory is that you can never offend anyone by dressing too nicely, but you could if you dress too sloppily.

Most of the enthusiast press is loath to offend the publishers who provide advertising and access to their content.

Lekachman seem determined to enforce the censorship of the literati against all books that offend their politics.

The alleged misuses of these two words offend those of us who are sensitive to the meanings of prefixes.

In fact, it stands to reason that the typical licensed dog is less likely to offend than the typical.

Furthermore, that he thinks you are a good candidate and doesn't want you to offend the dean.

Party officials argued that pious citizens had the right to affordable leisure space that did not offend their values.

It may increase the chances that those who are forgiven will offend again.

Someone who is focused only on personal goals can increase conflict and offend many people.

Each of his films is guaranteed to offend some of the people all of the time, including his staunchest admirers.

I've read some questionable posts here that could easily offend or be deemed unprofessional.

We have a longstanding, and to my mind extremely important, tradition of not outlawing things solely because they offend people.

And because they are old masters, they rarely offend audiences who have wildly different beliefs.

Some negative reactions are anticipated as such an international ranking are bond to offend many nationalists.

Government doesn't want to offend minority groups, and big business wants the cheapest labor it can get.

They offend against local instincts of fair play in a country with a large orderly refugee intake.

If they put down language they will offend people, if they put down dialect they might also offend some people.

Those who do not fit into the community of the lawful are outlaws and can be punished or killed if they offend this community.

Maybe your daughter should transfer to a school that doesn't offend your research-averse priorities.

It is not my intention to offend you or the status of your son.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

offend (əˈfɛnd)

—vb
1.	to hurt the feelings, sense of dignity, etc, of (a person)
2.	(tr) to be disagreeable to; disgust: the smell offended him
3.	(intr except in archaic uses) to break (a law or laws in general)

[C14: via Old French offendre to strike against, from Latin offendere, from ob- against + fendere to strike]

of'fender

—n

of'fending

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

offend

early 14c., "to sin against (someone)," from M.Fr. offendre, from L. offendere "strike against, stumble, commit a fault, displease," from ob "against" + fendere "to strike" (found only in compounds). Meaning "to violate (a law), to make a moral false step, to commit a crime" is from late 14c. Meaning

EXPAND

"to wound the feelings" is from late 14c. The literal sense of "to attack, assail" is attested from late 14c.; this has been lost in Modern English, but is preserved in offense and offensive.

COLLAPSE

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Related Words

affront disgust gross hurt insult

miff outrage spite sumptuary law tread

Matching Quote

"We all like to forgive, and love best not those who offend us least, nor who have done most for us, but those who make it most easy for us to forgive them."

-Samuel Butler

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