offense
Americannoun
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offenses
plural
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a violation or breaking of a social or moral rule; transgression; sin.
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a transgression of the law; misdemeanor.
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a cause of transgression or wrong.
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something that offends or displeases.
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the act of offending or displeasing.
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the feeling of resentful displeasure caused.
to give offense.
- Synonyms:
- wrath, resentment, umbrage, indignation
- Antonyms:
- pleasure
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the act of attacking; attack or assault.
weapons of offense.
- Synonyms:
- aggression
- Antonyms:
- defense
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a person, army, etc., that is attacking.
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Sports.
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the players or team unit responsible for attacking or scoring in a game.
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the players possessing or controlling the ball, puck, etc., or the aspects or period of a game when this obtains.
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a pattern or style of scoring attack.
single-wing offense; fast-break offense.
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offensive effectiveness; ability to score.
a total breakdown in offense.
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Archaic. injury, harm, or hurt.
Synonym Usage
See crime.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of offense
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English offence, offense; in part from Middle French offens, from Latin offēnsus “collision, knock,” equivalent to offend(ere) ( see offend) + -tus suffix of verb action; in part from Middle French offense, ultimately from Latin offēnsa, feminine past participle of offendere
Explanation
The part of a team that tries to score points is called the offense. If you play forward on a soccer team, you are on offense. If you offend someone — that is you cause them to be upset because of your actions or words — then you may need to apologize for the offense. After all, you meant no offense when you said that disco was dead. How were you to know the guy still loved the '70s? In the eyes of the law, an offense is a crime.
Vocabulary lists containing offense
Set, Hut! Football Vocabulary
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Words Football Fans Can Master Easily
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Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel need to get on the same page fast and find ways to simplify the Chargers’ offense ahead of a daunting series of games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Instead, his stated offense was simply that these outlets had produced too many negative stories over too much time.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026
Making matters worse, the offense has looked out of sync through McDaniel’s first two games.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Somehow, after just two games, the Chargers’ offense under McDaniel has Bolts fans wishing anyone else was running the show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
“Just about any offense will do, even if it bears scant relation to the likelihood the applicant will be a good tenant.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Afghanistan citizen Haji Zada was never charged with a crime, but prosecutors had tried and convicted her son and son-in-law for terror offenses.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Since 2023, law-enforcement agencies in West Virginia typically can’t post to social media mug shots of people charged with minor offenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Due to the gravity of the offenses, the location where they were perpetrated, and the fact that he was already out on two separate bonds, Poland initially set his new bond at $1.25 million.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Seeking to deny Lavie mental health diversion, prosecutors said she was plotting behind bars and engaging in conduct very similar to the charged offenses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
They “load up” defendants with charges that carry extremely harsh sentences in order to force them to plead guilty to lesser offenses and—here’s the kicker—to obtain testimony for a related case.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
