OFFEND

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does offend mean? 

• OFFEND (verb)
  The verb OFFEND has 4 senses:

1. cause to feel resentment or indignation

2. act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises

3. strike with disgust or revulsion

4. hurt the feelings of

  Familiarity information: OFFEND used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OFFEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they offend    ... he / she / it offends   
Past simple: offended   
Past participle: offended   
-ing form: offending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to feel resentment or indignation

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

offend; pique

Context example:

Her tactless remark offended me

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

anger (make angry)

Cause:

resent (feel bitter or indignant about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

offence (a feeling of anger caused by being offended)

offensive (causing anger or annoyance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

breach; break; go against; infract; offend; transgress; violate

Context example:

break a promise

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

disrespect (show a lack of respect for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "offend"):

sin; transgress; trespass (commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law)

blunder; boob; drop the ball; goof; sin (commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake)

conflict; contravene; infringe; run afoul (go against, as of rules and laws)

trespass (break the law)

intrude; trespass (enter unlawfully on someone's property)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

offence (a transgression that constitutes a violation of what is judged to be right)

offender (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)

offense (a transgression that constitutes a violation of what is judged to be right)

offensive (morally offensive)

offensive (violating or tending to violate or offend against)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Strike with disgust or revulsion

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

appal; appall; offend; outrage; scandalise; scandalize; shock

Context example:

The scandalous behavior of this married woman shocked her friends

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

churn up; disgust; nauseate; revolt; sicken (cause aversion in; offend the moral sense of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will offend him
The performance is likely to offend Sue

Derivation:

offensive (unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses)

offensive (morally offensive)

offensive (causing or able to cause nausea)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Hurt the feelings of

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

bruise; hurt; injure; offend; spite; wound

Context example:

This remark really bruised my ego

Hypernyms (to "offend" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "offend"):

affront; diss; insult (treat, mention, or speak to rudely)

lacerate (deeply hurt the feelings of; distress)

sting (cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging)

abase; chagrin; humble; humiliate; mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot offend Sue

Derivation:

offence; offense (a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others)

offensive (causing anger or annoyance)

 Context examples 

"And was that the head and front of his offending?" demanded Mr. Rochester.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“To think that I could be offended!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She knows I would not offend for the world.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Half-stunned by the blow, Buck was knocked backward and the lash laid upon him again and again, while Spitz soundly punished the many times offending Pike.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

But the thin man did not be offend, and went down with the mate and saw where it was place, and came up and stood awhile on deck in fog.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Offended me! How could you suppose so?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I assured him that I was not offended.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No man is offended by another man's admiration of the woman he loves; it is the woman only who can make it a torment.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I freed my mind about a silly little thing, and he was offended.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Sir Thomas heard and was not offended.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)