offend
verb/əˈfɛnd/
Etymology From Middle French offendre, from Latin offendō (“strike, blunder, commit an offense”), from ob- (“against”) + *fendō (“strike”).
7 senses
- 1To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
- 2To feel or become offended; to take insult.
- 3To physically harm, pain.
- 4To annoy, cause discomfort or resent.
- 5To sin, transgress divine law or moral rules.
- 6To transgress or violate a law or moral requirement.
- 7To cause to stumble; to cause to sin or to fall.
1
To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
- Your accusations offend me deeply.
- ‘ […] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. We nearly crowned her we were so offended. She saw us but she didn't know us, did she?’.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
1 more example
- One day my girlfriend, her boyfriend and I were sunbathing topless because that's Barbados - you can wear nothing if you want. And the Pepsi guy walks up and with my agent to meet us for lunch. I wondered if I should put on my top because I have a business relationship with him. I didn't want him to get offended because the rest of the beach had seen me with my top off.1995 September, “The Playboy Interview: Cindy Crawford”, in Playboy:
2
To feel or become offended; to take insult.
- Don't worry. I don't offend easily.
3
To physically harm, pain.
- Strong light offends the eye.
- Som fowles there be that have so perfaict ſight Agayn the Sonne their Iyes for to defend And ſom bicauſe the light doeth theim offend Do never pere but in the darke or nyghtc. 1527–1542, Thomas Wyatt, “Som fowles there be that have so perfaict ſight”, in Egerton MS 2711, page 19v:
4
To annoy, cause discomfort or resent.
- Physically enjoyable frivolity can still offend the conscience
5
To sin, transgress divine law or moral rules.
- I dailie and hourelie offend in thought, word, and deed, in a relapſe by mine owne weakneſſe and wilfulneſſe, my bonus Genius, my good protecting angel is gone, I am falne from that I was, or would bee, worſe and worſe, […]1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cure of Deſpaire by Phyſick, good counſell, comforts, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 4, member 3, subsection 6, page 707:
6
With "against" To transgress or violate a law or moral requirement.
- Wearing faded baggy offends against the club's rules of proper dress.
- The plaintiff’s claim is replete with conclusions, expressions of opinion, and evidence. Therefore, the statement of claim offends the rules of pleading and ought to be struck out pursuant to Queen’s Bench Rule 25.11(b).2014 September 5, Justice James G. Edmond, “Rebillard v. Manitoba (A.G.) et al., 2014 MBQB 181”, in CanLII, retrieved 24 Nov 2025:
- "If any man offend not (stumbles not, is not tripped up) in word, the same is a perfect man."1896, Adolphus Frederick Schauffler, Select Notes on the International Sunday School Lessons, W. A. Wilde company, page 161:
- "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out."1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:29:
- Synonyms
- Derived terms
- offendable, offendedly, offendedness, offendee, offender, offendor, offendotron, reoffend, repeat offend
- Hypernyms
- discompose, provoke, revile, ruffle, stir up
- Hyponyms
- miff, denigrate, deride, moon, whoop, flick off, flip off, flip the bird, give the finger