offend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
offends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
offended,
past participle, past
-
offending
present participle
-
to irritate, annoy, or anger; cause resentful displeasure in.
Even the hint of prejudice offends me.
- Antonyms:
- please
-
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)
-
offends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
offended,
past participle, past
-
offending
present participle
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- trespass, transgress
verb
-
to hurt the feelings, sense of dignity, etc, of (a person)
-
(tr) to be disagreeable to; disgust
the smell offended him
-
(intr except in archaic uses) to break (a law or laws in general)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
offendernoun
-
reoffendverb
-
overoffendverb (used with object)
-
preoffendverb (used with object)
-
offendableadjective
-
offendingadjective
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unoffendableadjective
-
unoffendingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
offendsimple
-
offendssimple
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have offendedperfect
-
has offendedperfect
-
am offendingprogressive
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are offendingprogressive
-
is offendingprogressive
-
have been offendingperfect progressive
-
has been offendingperfect progressive
Past
-
offendedsimple
-
had offendedperfect
-
was offendingprogressive
-
were offendingprogressive
-
had been offendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of offend
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English offenden, from Middle French offendre, from Latin offendere “to strike against, displease,” from of- of- + -fendere “to strike” ( see also bane ( def. ))
Explanation
If you hurt someone's feelings, you offend that person. You might accidentally offend your friend when you joke about the worst restaurant in town, not realizing it's her favorite place to eat. If you do something that makes another person resent you, you offend them. Your friends might not mind because you're so humble, but it could offend other classmates when the teachers always pick you for awards and honors. You also offend when you cause disgust or distaste. After your week of camping — and not showering — your smell will probably offend the nose of anyone who has to sit near you.
Vocabulary lists containing offend
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
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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:
"It is never our intention to offend our audience," the statement added.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
As for the residual costs of exercising her right to offend back in 2017, Griffin confirmed that some of her shows still draw protesters.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
But more than that, ‘Are we doing things that could actually offend them?’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
I don’t care if the officers caught on tape didn’t intend to offend, and I don’t care what Hochman intends the message to be with his vast over-charging of Flores.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Be respectful and try your best not to offend anyone in your posts.
From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan
That’s “diworsification”—ideas watered down to the lowest common denominator, the least innovative option that offends no one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
At the very least, that's not something that offends people.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024
“People, and particularly women, tend to kvetch and converse and complain about what offends them, and then they vote according to what affects them,” she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2024
Right now, platforms can take down vile and harmful content when it offends their terms of service.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2023
It’s only the more recent history that offends them.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Worry less about who’s talking to whom and who has offended whom, and more about the parents’ independence.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
It’s not that I’m offended by the idea of generated art; it’s just that it bores me.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Instead, the cyber-criminals asked the agency to retract an advisory that it issued in May about the gang, saying it was "offended" by its characterisation.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
But this one was so bad that it even offended Martinez Valladares, a Republican whose district stretches from the Grapevine to Victorville.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
The man was not offended by the laughter.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
"We will take a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and other offending," said senior Met officer Carl Galvin.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court Jogesh was the "driving force and the instigator" of the offending, while Morris, of Forest Drive in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, was "very much working for him".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“We contacted the offending students’ families and instituted consequences, and are working to educate the students about the impact of their actions,” Holdren said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
He added that it was helping police understand the geographical impact of the offending and helping forces target areas where evidence was coming from.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
“You mustn’t worry about offending me, young man. I’m quite impervious. As for this...”
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
