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
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of offensive
Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 21 June 2026
Cenac will need to improve as a rim protector and round out his offensive game to become a consistent contributor at the next level.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 21 June 2026
Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 13 June 2026
Offensive line depth is concerning Austin Jackson’s foot injury exposed an area of weakness the Dolphins have on the roster because Miami needs to do better than Kion Smith as the primary backup offensive tackle.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Adjective
But whenever Swanson gets home from the ballpark and sees his 7-month-old daughter, Josie, with wife and Chicago Stars star Mallory helps put his offensive struggles in perspective.
—Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 21 June 2026
Cenac will need to improve as a rim protector and round out his offensive game to become a consistent contributor at the next level.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 21 June 2026
Noun
The deal includes an end to fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has continued a deadly offensive against Hezbollah despite existing ceasefire agreements.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 13 June 2026
Offensive line depth is concerning Austin Jackson’s foot injury exposed an area of weakness the Dolphins have on the roster because Miami needs to do better than Kion Smith as the primary backup offensive tackle.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for offensive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offensive
Adjective
-
Get a room, this is disgusting!—
Daniela Avila,
PEOPLE,
17 June 2026
-
And, to me, there’s nothing more disgusting than an airplane bathroom.—
Carita Rizzo,
Deadline,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
His character, Andrew Fung, is written to be obnoxious – cartoonishly, gleefully, exhaustingly so.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
15 June 2026
-
Citadel was successful but borderline obnoxious.—
Gary Sernovitz,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
The Kerch road and rail crossing, opened by Putin in 2018, has been the target of previous Ukrainian attacks.—
Gianluca Mezzofiore,
CNN Money,
20 June 2026
-
Two other individuals survived that attack, the military said.—
Michael Sinkewicz,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
Both state and church are also known for failing to live up to those ideals, for permitting indefensible abuses, for ugly histories.—
Joe Mathews,
Mercury News,
18 June 2026
-
Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.—
Fiona Sinclair Scott,
CNN Money,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
Warsh called that unacceptable and kept saying so.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
17 June 2026
-
This proposal is utterly unacceptable.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
As its offense gained confidence, Scotland turned away two more Moroccan scoring bids, with Hendry sliding to deflect a Sabiri dangerous shot off the crossbar and Gunn rejecting an El Khannouss header off a corner kick.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
20 June 2026
-
The ceiling of this roster is one where Flagg has the ball in his hands, initiating the offense as a point forward.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 June 2026
Adjective
-
But their pitching staff has been disappointing to awful, and there's little help coming from the farm system.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 June 2026
-
In fact, this version of Louis sounds an awful lot like Lestat.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
An example of an inherently objectionable use might be a heliport in a heavily residential municipality.—
Michael Helbing,
The Conversation,
11 June 2026
-
The show hinges on finding an ordinary person who, plunged into a group of people he’s never met before, doesn’t reject them as weird or objectionable but embraces them at some basic human level.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Offensive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offensive. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
