Offense — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others

a feeling of anger caused by being offended

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/əfˈɛns/

🇬🇧British English

/əfˈɛns/

🇮🇳Indian English

/əfˈɛns/

2 syllables Say it as /əfˈɛns/.

Examples

he took offence at my question
a long record of crimes

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

umbrage criminal offence offensive activity law-breaking offence offensive crime criminal offense discourtesy

Antonyms

defence defense

Parts of Speech

noun	a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others
noun	a feeling of anger caused by being offended “he took offence at my question”
noun	(criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act “a long record of crimes”
noun	the team that has the ball (or puck) and is trying to score
noun	the action of attacking an enemy

Word Forms

offend	verb	hurt the feelings of
umbrageous	adjective	angered at something unjust or wrong
criminal	adjective	involving or being or having the nature of a crime
criminate	verb	bring an accusation against; level a charge against
incriminate	verb	suggest that someone is guilty
criminalise	verb	declare illegal; outlaw

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Angriff

ein Mangel an Höflichkeit; ein Versäumnis, anderen gegenüber Rücksicht zu nehmen; die Gefühle oder andere verletzen

🇫🇷French

infraction

un manque de politesse ; un manque de respect envers les autres ; blesser les sentiments ou les autres

🇪🇸Spanish

ofensa

falta de cortesía; falta de respeto por los demás; herir los sentimientos o los demás

🇮🇹Italian

offesa

una mancanza di gentilezza; una incapacità di mostrare rispetto per gli altri; ferire i sentimenti o gli altri

🇳🇱Dutch

overtreding

een gebrek aan beleefdheid; een onvermogen om respect voor anderen te tonen; het verwonden van de gevoelens of anderen

🇵🇹Portuguese

ofensa

falta de educação; falha em demonstrar consideração pelos outros; ferindo os sentimentos ou outros

🇷🇺Russian

преступление

отсутствие вежливости; неспособность проявлять уважение к другим; ранить чувства или других

India

🇮🇳Hindi

अपराध

विनम्रता की कमी; दूसरों के प्रति सम्मान दिखाने में विफलता; भावनाओं या दूसरों को चोट पहुँचाना

🇧🇩Bengali

অপরাধ

ভদ্রতার অভাব; অন্যদের প্রতি সম্মান দেখাতে ব্যর্থতা; অনুভূতি বা অন্যদের আহত করা

🇮🇳Tamil

குற்றம்

கண்ணியம் இல்லாமை; மற்றவர்களுக்கு மரியாதை காட்டுவதில் தோல்வி; உணர்வுகள் அல்லது பிறரை காயப்படுத்துதல்

🇮🇳Telugu

నేరం

మర్యాద లేకపోవడం; ఇతరుల పట్ల గౌరవం చూపడంలో వైఫల్యం; భావాలను లేదా ఇతరులను గాయపరచడం

🇮🇳Marathi

गुन्हा

सभ्यतेचा अभाव; इतरांबद्दल आदर दाखवण्यात अपयश; भावना किंवा इतरांना दुखापत करणे

🇮🇳Gujarati

ગુનો

નમ્રતાનો અભાવ; અન્ય લોકો પ્રત્યે આદર દર્શાવવામાં નિષ્ફળતા; લાગણીઓ અથવા અન્યને ઇજા પહોંચાડવી

🇮🇳Kannada

ಅಪರಾಧ

ಸಭ್ಯತೆಯ ಕೊರತೆ; ಇತರರಿಗೆ ಗೌರವವನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸಲು ವಿಫಲತೆ; ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅಥವಾ ಇತರರನ್ನು ಗಾಯಗೊಳಿಸುವುದು

🇮🇳Malayalam

കുറ്റം

മര്യാദയുടെ അഭാവം; മറ്റുള്ളവരോട് ബഹുമാനം കാണിക്കുന്നതിൽ പരാജയം; വികാരങ്ങളെയോ മറ്റുള്ളവരെയോ മുറിവേൽപ്പിക്കുന്നു

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਅਪਰਾਧ

ਨਿਮਰਤਾ ਦੀ ਘਾਟ; ਦੂਜਿਆਂ ਲਈ ਸਤਿਕਾਰ ਦਿਖਾਉਣ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਸਫਲਤਾ; ਭਾਵਨਾਵਾਂ ਜਾਂ ਹੋਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸੱਟ ਮਾਰਨਾ

🇵🇰Urdu

جرم

شائستگی کی کمی؛ دوسروں کا احترام کرنے میں ناکامی؛ جذبات یا دوسروں کو زخمی کرنا

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

罪行

缺乏礼貌；不尊重他人；伤害感情或他人

🇯🇵Japanese

犯罪

礼儀の欠如。他人に対する敬意を示さないこと。感情や他人を傷つける

🇰🇷Korean

위반

공손함의 부족; 다른 사람을 존중하지 않는 것; 감정이나 다른 사람에게 상처를 입히는 것

🇻🇳Vietnamese

sự xúc phạm

thiếu lịch sự; không thể hiện sự quan tâm đến người khác; làm tổn thương cảm xúc hoặc người khác

🇹🇭Thai

ความผิด

ขาดความสุภาพ; ความล้มเหลวในการแสดงความเคารพต่อผู้อื่น กระทบกระเทือนต่อความรู้สึกหรือผู้อื่น

🇮🇩Indonesian

pelanggaran

kurangnya kesopanan; kegagalan untuk menunjukkan rasa hormat terhadap orang lain; melukai perasaan atau orang lain

🇵🇭Filipino

pagkakasala

kakulangan ng pagiging magalang; isang kabiguang magpakita ng paggalang sa iba; nakakasakit sa damdamin o sa iba

🇲🇾Malay

kesalahan

kekurangan kesopanan; kegagalan untuk menunjukkan rasa hormat kepada orang lain; melukai perasaan atau orang lain

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

جريمة

قلة الأدب الفشل في إظهار الاحترام للآخرين؛ جرح المشاعر أو الآخرين

🇮🇷Persian

جرم

عدم رعایت ادب؛ عدم توجه به دیگران؛ جریحه دار کردن احساسات یا دیگران

🇹🇷Turkish

suç

nezaket eksikliği; başkalarına saygı göstermede başarısızlık; Duyguları veya başkalarını yaralamak

🇮🇱Hebrew

הַתקָפָה

חוסר נימוס; כישלון להראות כבוד לאחרים; פגיעה ברגשות או באחרים

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'offense'?

The primary meaning of 'offense' is 'a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'offense' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'offense' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'offense' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'offense' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'offense' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'offense' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'offense' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'offense' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'offense' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'offense' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted