offensive
French, noun/ɔ.fɑ̃.siv/
offensive is spelled O-F-F-E-N-S-I-V-E (9 letters) and appears 13 times per million words in written French, the 5,648th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Offensive is a French feminine noun meaning “offensive (an attack)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a feminine singular of offensif. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Attaque que l’on fait sans avoir été provoqué par l’adversaire”.
What does offensive mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineoffensive (an attack)
adjective
- 1
femininefeminine singular of offensif
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Attaque que l’on fait sans avoir été provoqué par l’adversaire.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of offensive
- offensives plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce offensive?
- /ɔ.fɑ̃.siv/
- \ɔ.fɑ̃.siv\
- [o.fɑ̃.si:v]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to offensive
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is offensive in French?
offensive appears 13 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).