offend

verb

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

(intransitive) To feel or become offended; to take insult.

(transitive) To annoy, cause discomfort or resent.

(transitive) To physically harm, pain.

(transitive or with "against") To transgress or violate a law or moral requirement.

(intransitive) To sin, transgress divine law or moral rules.

(obsolete, transitive, archaic, biblical) To cause to stumble; to cause to sin or to fall.

Roots

fendo-fend · Latin · strike, ward off

Synonyms for offend

infractv hurtv scandalizev transgressv displeasev appallv piquen insultn annoyv aggrievev irritatev disturbv embarrassv rilev disobligev infringev outragen humiliatev

Synonyms & related words for offend

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of offend — including infract, hurt, scandalize, transgress, displease, appall. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to offend

Explore words related to offend — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include injure, violate, affronting, antagonize, irritator, violative, scandalizer, demean. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for offend

Common synonyms for offend include infract, hurt, scandalize, transgress, displease, appall, pique, insult — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does offend come from?

The word offend breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root -fend, from Latin fendo (“strike, ward off”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.