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Synonyms

take offense

Idioms  

  1. Feel resentment or emotional pain, as in I didn't realize he'd take offense when he wasn't invited. [Mid-1800s]

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.

Conflict-Averse Formalism: The second most common type of art in public, these works are most notable for being inoffensively pretty at a time when people can take offense at anything.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

Which would sort of make sense, if machines could actually take offense at anything.

From Slate • Aug. 31, 2025

Audrey smiled, but she’s been known to take offense when ElliQ is spoken to harshly.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2023

But Flash said workers at the sites visited by Scabby shouldn’t take offense, since the rat is protesting against contractors and companies, not the workers themselves.

From Seattle Times • May 12, 2023

I did not take offense, considering her grief, but stayed by Gertrude’s side until her raving ceased and she fell asleep.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

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.