1
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
I find your disrespectful attitude toward religion very offensive the smell of rotting food is quite offensive
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obnoxious
provoking or likely to provoke protest
insensitive, offensive remarks about the plight of the homeless
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in attack
the act or action of setting upon with force or violence
the primary offensive by the ground forces will commence at dawn tomorrow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of offensive
Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 17 May 2026
Schwarber, even in his early 30's, has taken his offensive game to a whole new level.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2026
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 May 2026
The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
—Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Adjective
The jokes are generally shocking and offensive things that the other person wouldn't want to be saying on live television.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 17 May 2026
Schwarber, even in his early 30's, has taken his offensive game to a whole new level.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2026
Noun
So far, his ideological offensive on film content has been discreet.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 May 2026
The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
—Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offensive
Adjective
-
How on Earth could this Wild team, after dominating the first period and taking a 3-0 lead with a chance to keep its season alive and force a Game 6, collapse in such an absolutely disgusting fashion?—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
14 May 2026
-
Just days ago, the CDC announced that over 100 passengers and more than a dozen crew members on a different ship, the Caribbean Princess, have been infected by norovirus—a less fatal but more disgusting illness.—
Hillary Busis,
Vanity Fair,
11 May 2026
Adjective
-
Magic starred Hopkins as Corky, a magician who reaches fame alongside his ventriloquist’s dummy, the obnoxious and wisecracking Fats.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2026
-
And who wants to be John Adams, fat, bald and obnoxious?—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
9 May 2026
Noun
-
As the United States has escalated its attacks on Iran, there’s something pleasingly transgressive about bringing Iranian elements into such overtly Western music—so much so that the songs without Yaghmai’s playing seem a little subdued in comparison.—
Molly Mary O’Brien,
Pitchfork,
15 May 2026
-
This one way attack drone is aimed at delivering affordable mass capabilities and is engineered for adaptability, and autonomous operations.—
Aditya Jadhav,
Interesting Engineering,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Last year, the two teams met in London in an ugly 13-11 Denver win.—
Antwan Staley,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
-
With respect to humor’s inherent subjectivity, the appallingly ugly aesthetics of the AI overwhelm any possible comedic sensibility on display.—
Vikram Murthi,
IndieWire,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
That could include fees for access, which Washington says would be unacceptable.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
20 May 2026
-
Speakers at Tuesday’s rally argued this was unacceptable.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
That freed up Plum to be in position to score, setting up a much more efficient Sparks offense.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
16 May 2026
-
Brown is still building up his pitch count with his transition from the bullpen to the rotation, requiring high efficiency facing Major League Baseball’s best offense to give them that many outs.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
And Season 2 was the Deathclaw, which was an awful lot of fun.—
Scott Huver,
Variety,
20 May 2026
-
But every awful pause contains an ocean of meaning, none of it comforting.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
The jokes Che wrote for Jost were no less objectionable.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
17 May 2026
-
The radio call-in format dates back to the 1950s, although in some of the first shows to feature listener calls, the calls were recorded for later broadcast, or the hosts summarized them to avoid objectionable content being aired.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Offensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offensive. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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