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
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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
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offendernoun
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reoffendverb
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overoffendverb (used with object)
-
preoffendverb (used with object)
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offendableadjective
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offendingadjective
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unoffendableadjective
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unoffendingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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offendsimple
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offendssimple
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have offendedperfect
-
has offendedperfect
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am offendingprogressive
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are offendingprogressive
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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:
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
Describing himself as a Catholic from the impoverished aristocracy and an entrepreneur, he says it would offend against both his ethics and his business sense to exclude people from the banquets.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
A sympathetic observer might fairly wonder what the point is of a grand moral pronouncement—one issued by the pope or any religious figure—that doesn’t offend or seriously challenge honored cultural arbiters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Yet the majority treats Louisiana’s mapmaking choices that offend Section 2 as if they arrived unmarked by history.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
He did not see how he could possibly explain to Hermione that what she had done to offend Ron was kiss Viktor Krum, not when the offense had occurred so long ago.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Nabbing people as they wait for jobs as roofers or drywallers, or raiding hotels and farms as they do useful things and earn money for themselves and their families, offends natural sensibilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
"It was the wrong thing to do. It offends against their own customers' sense of fair play," he added.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
But discomfort lives in the shadows: in the quiet space between conscience and control, between what offends and what erases.
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2025
At the very least, that's not something that offends people.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024
“The slightest air of disbelief offends it, naturally. How would you feel if people refused to believe in you?”
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
Parker offended many actors with her acid remarks, but for Monroe she had only kind words.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
She’s a little rain cloud of a person, dour and humorless, though perhaps rightly offended by being passed over.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The judge found Day had "little insight into your offending or any real remorse", but he noted he had not offended since the Big Ben incident and had strong personal mitigation including failing eyesight.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Most people said they wouldn’t be offended, though some offered situations in which they would also feel confused.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
She didn’t obey, feeling both offended and exultant, smiling inwardly, thinking, “Yes! I got to you. You have this human quality. You’re flawed.”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
I would worry about offending my children, but they stopped reading after the first paragraph.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Its public statements “proved hollow when it came to taking disciplinary measures against offending students and faculty.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
In correspondence previously provided to the BBC, the Met said: "The live investigation into those who could have facilitated or enabled Mohamed Al Fayed's offending continues."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Probation officers help former prisoners with housing, employment and access to benefits once in the community, and help protect the public by assessing the risk of further offending.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
By now I was biting away at the offending cuticle, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Call nodding his head vigorously, pumping up for a big affirmative statement.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
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.
