Meaning & use
offended
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Hurt, angry or insulted because of something that someone said or did that you felt was rude or disrespectful.
Grammar: Often follows a linking verb and takes by or at for the cause: she felt offended by the joke.
Patterns
- be offended by something
- be offended at something
- feel offended
My aunt was deeply offended by the way the waiter ignored her.
I hope you won't be offended if I decline the invitation.
Several viewers felt offended at the show's jokes about their town.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense and past participle of offend: caused someone to feel hurt or insulted, or broke a law or rule.
Grammar: As a verb it takes a person as object: the comment offended him; for crime it has no object: he offended again.
Patterns
- offend someone
- offend against something
His blunt reply offended the whole committee.
The same man had offended twice within a year.
Word forms
| base form | offend |
|---|---|
| third person singular | offends |
| -ing form | offending |
Common combinations
- deeply offended
- He was deeply offended when nobody asked his opinion.
- offended by
- She was offended by the suggestion that she had cheated.
- easily offended
- The film may upset people who are easily offended.
- feel offended
- Please don't feel offended; the note was not about you.
- take offense
- Some guests took offense at the seating plan.
Synonyms and how they differ
- insulted
- Insulted points to a direct, deliberate slight, whereas offended can describe hurt feelings from something the speaker never meant.
- upset
- Upset is broader and can mean sad or worried, while offended always involves feeling disrespected.
- aggrieved
- Aggrieved is more formal and suggests you feel you have been treated unfairly, not just insulted.
- affronted
- Affronted is a stronger, slightly formal word for being offended by something seen as openly disrespectful.
Opposites
Word family
- offend verb
- to hurt someone's feelings
- offense noun
- an insult, or a crime
- offensive adjective
- rude or upsetting
- offender noun
- a person who breaks the law
- inoffensive adjective
- unlikely to upset anyone
Commonly confused: offended or offensive?
offended vs offensive
Offensive describes the thing that upsets people, while offended describes the person who is upset.
Practice
Maria was ___ by the rude comment about her cooking.
Choose one answer.
Offended describes the person who feels hurt. Offensive describes the comment itself, so it cannot describe Maria's reaction.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “offended”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.