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PlainSpell

offensive

of·fen·sive/ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/adjective, noun

offensive is spelled O-F-F-E-N-S-I-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables (of·fen·sive). It appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, offensive means “Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in offensive?

Letters9: O-F-F-E-N-S-I-V-E
Syllables3: of·fen·sive
In writing29 times per million words; the 3,218th 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 offensive?

Offensive appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th 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 offensive?

  • /əˈfɛnsɪv/
  • /əˈfɪ̟nsɪv/
  • US /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/

Offensive has 3 syllables, split of·fen·sive in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-offensive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of offensive

  • more offensive comparative
  • most offensive superlative
  • offensives plural

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

What does offensive mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.

    Some people find pornography offensive.

  2. 2

    Socially disrespectful; insensitive.

  3. 3

    Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.

    The army's offensive capabilities. An offensive weapon.

  4. 4

    Having to do with play directed at scoring.

    The offensive coordinator is responsible for ordering all rushing plays.

noun

  1. 1

    An attack.

    The Marines today launched a major offensive.

  2. 2

    The posture of attacking or being able to attack.

    He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.

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

Offensive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchoffensant (causing offense), offensif (relating to attack, offense), offensive (an attack)
Germanbeleidigend (causing offense), Offensive, Angriff (an attack), offensiv (team sports: having to do with play directed at…)
Portugueseofensivo (causing offense), ofensiva (an attack)
Spanishofensivo (causing offense), ofensiva (relating to attack, offense)

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 offensive come from?

From Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend.

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

What to look up after offensive