Synonyms for offensive
- adjective
- noun
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Obscene
obscene, disgusting, abusive, obnoxious, distasteful, objectionable, foul, repugnant, abhorrent, bad, repulsive, insulting, vulgar, scurrilous, horrid, loathsome, sickening, hateful, nauseating, unpleasant, noisome formal, vile
Other
attacking, aggressive, unsavory US, unsavoury UK, ungrateful, violative US, grating, affrontive rare
Noun
Definitions
- adj. 1
Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.
Some people find pornography offensive.
- n. 1
An attack.
The Marines today launched a major offensive.
Related words
- Word family
- offensively offensiveness offend offense
- Phrases
- offensive zone
Forms
- Plural
- offensives → offenses, assaults…
Example sentences
- disgusting What's the most disgusting food you've ever eaten?
- abusive Sami was abusive to Layla verbally and physically.
- obnoxious I hope you don't think I'm as obnoxious as Tom is.
- distasteful I hope that distasteful joke wasn't directed at me.
- aggressive They are a bunch of inept and aggressive cretins..
- attacking I'm literally the kind of person you're attacking.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| offensive | steady | |
| disgusting | rising | |
| abusive | rising | |
| obnoxious | steady | |
| distasteful | steady | |
| aggressive | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- foul1, vile1
- 6 letters
- vulgar2, horrid2
- 7 letters
- assault2, offense2, offence, abusive3, obscene2, hateful2, grating2, noisome
- 8 letters
- unsavory4
- 9 letters
- attacking3, insulting3, obnoxious3, sickening3, repulsive3, abhorrent3, repugnant3, loathsome2, unsavoury, violative
- 10 letters
- aggressive3, disgusting3, unpleasant3, ungrateful3, nauseating4, scurrilous3, affrontive
- 11 letters
- distasteful3
- 13 letters
- objectionable5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (vulgar2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- offensif
- Italiano
- aggressivo
- Español
- ofensivo