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PlainSpell

offend

of·fend/əˈfɛnd/verb

offend is spelled O-F-F-E-N-D: 6 letters and 2 syllables (of·fend). It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, offend means “To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in offend?

Letters6: O-F-F-E-N-D
Syllables2: of·fend
In writing3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is offend?

Offend appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce offend?

  • /əˈfɛnd/

Offend has 2 syllables, split of·fend in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-offend.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of offend

  • offends present, singular, he/she/it
  • offending participle, present
  • offended participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does offend mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.

    Your accusations offend me deeply.

  2. 2

    To feel or become offended; to take insult.

    Don't worry. I don't offend easily.

  3. 3

    To physically harm, pain.

    Strong light offends the eye.

  4. 4

    To annoy, cause discomfort or resent.

    Physically enjoyable frivolity can still offend the conscience

  5. 5

    To sin, transgress divine law or moral rules.

  6. 6

    To transgress or violate a law or moral requirement.

    Wearing faded baggy offends against the club's rules of proper dress.

  7. 7

    archaicobsoleteTo cause to stumble; to cause to sin or to fall.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Offend in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchoffenser, déplaire (to hurt the feelings), blesser (to physically harm, pain)
Germanbeleidigen (to hurt the feelings)
Portugueseofender (to hurt the feelings), prejudicar (to physically harm, pain), ofender-se (to feel or become offended)
Spanishofender (to hurt the feelings), hacer daño, dañar, perjudicar (to physically harm, pain)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does offend come from?

From Middle French offendre, from Latin offendō (“strike, blunder, commit an offense”), from ob- (“against”) + *fendō (“strike”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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