offense
Syllables: of·fense/əˈfɛns/
offense noun: a crime or sin.
Noun
offense (countable and uncountable, plural offenses)
- A crime or sin.
- The slave fully appreciates the saying, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." When old master's gestures were violent, ending with a threatening shake of the head, and a sharp snap of his middle finger and thumb, I deemed it wise to keep at a respectable distance from him; for, at such...1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC
- The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion
- Synonyms:
- misdoing, transgression, wrongdoing, crime, delict, delinquency, error, malfeasance, misdeed, misdemeanor
- An affront, injury, or insult.
- Thus I have ventur'd to give my Opinion on this Subject againſt the Authority of tvvo great men, but I hope vvithout offence to either of their Memories, for I both lov'd them living, and reverence them now they are dead.1680, John Dryden, “The Preface to Ovid’s Epistles”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC
- The state of being offended or displeased; anger; displeasure.
- Synonyms:
- miff, offendedness, pique, umbrage
- A strategy and tactics employed when in position to score; contrasted with defense.
- The portion of a team dedicated to scoring when in position to do so; contrasted with defense.
offense meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam
offense in Hindi
- act of offending against the law
- वार vār
offense in Tamil
- குற்றம், விதிமீறல், நிந்தை, அவமதிப்பு, எல்லைமீறும் குறும்பு
offense in Bengali
- অপরাধ, পাপ, কসুর, লঙ্ঘন, ঝকমারি, অপমান
offense in Malayalam
- offense; crime
- അപരാധം aparādhaṁ
More languagesFewer languages
- offense in Sanskrit
- आगस् āgas, एनस् enas
- offense in Malay
- kesalahan
Examples of offense in a sentence
- She might take offense if some Johnny-come-lately thinks he can do a better job.
- We outrebounded the other team, but our offense wasn't good enough.
- The Clevelander took offense to his city being referred to as the "Mistake by the Lake".
Synonyms of offense
23 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of offense
| plural | offenses |
|---|---|
| alternative Australia Canada New Zealand UK | offence |
Origin of offense
From Middle English offence, from Old French offense, from Latin offensa (“a striking against; displeasure; injury”).
Words formed from offense
- capital offense
- criminal offense
- cyberoffense
- Daffy Duck offense
- hanging offense
- hanging offence
- hurry-up offense
- indictable offense
- indictable offence
- lesser included offense
- no offense
- offence to be taken into consideration
- offenseful
- offenseless
- offensensitivity
- offensible
- offensive and defensive alliance
- primary offense
- regulatory offense
- regulatory offence
- shotgun offense
- status offense
- summary offense
- summary offence
- take offense
- the best defense is a good offense
- West Coast offense
Phrases with offense
Words that rhyme with offense
Questions about offense
- What does offense mean?
- Offense means a crime or sin.
- What is offense in Hindi?
- Offense in Hindi is वार (vār). See Offense meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is offense?
- Offense is a noun.
- How do you pronounce offense?
- Offense is pronounced /əˈfɛns/.
- What is the plural of offense?
- The plural of offense is offenses.
Words near offense in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: offense (page history and authors); offense (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); offense (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); അപരാധം (Malayalam) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-offense.ogg.
Cite this entry: “offense.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/offense. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.