offend
/əˈfɛnd/
"offend" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“offend” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,571. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #13,571
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
Corpus desk
Index EN-offend · offend · English
offend · rank #13,571 · 7 variants · 9 confusables
- FREQ-MID #13,571
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH NP
Nearest frequency peer: NP (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “offend”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Neville
Neville
86,433 corpus weight
- nominate
nominate
86,432 corpus weight
- NP
NP
86,431 corpus weight
- offend
offend
86,430 corpus weight
- oo
oo
86,429 corpus weight
- orchard
orchard
86,428 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “offend” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | offend |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈfɛnd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,571 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “offend” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around offend (IPA /əˈfɛnd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #13,571 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for offend, with forms such as "fofend", "ofefnd", and "ofend". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "often", "offer", "offers", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French offendre, from Latin offendō (“strike, blunder, commit an offense”), from ob- (“against”) + *fendō (“strike”). The correct English form is offend, spelled O-F-F-E-N-D.
Definition
- 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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how offend appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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?’.
Etymology
From Middle French offendre, from Latin offendō (“strike, blunder, commit an offense”), from ob- (“against”) + *fendō (“strike”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- fofend
- ofefnd
- ofend
- offedn
- offendd
- offennd
- offned
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of offend - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "offend"?
What does "offend" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "offend"?
How do you pronounce "offend"?
What is the origin of the word "offend"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "offend", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "offend". Here's where to go from here.
- "offend" maps to 9 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "often". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #13,571 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "O" letter cohort. O–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.