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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Offensive \Of*fen"sive\, adjective [Cf. F. offensif. See {Offend}.]
1. Giving offense; causing displeasure or resentment; displeasing; annoying; as, offensive words.
2. Giving pain or unpleasant sensations; disagreeable; revolting; noxious; as, an offensive smell; offensive sounds. ''Offensive to the stomach.'' --Bacon.
3. Making the first attack; assailant; aggressive; hence, used in attacking; -- opposed to {defensive}; as, an offensive war; offensive weapons.
{League offensive and defensive}, a leaque that requires all the parties to it to make war together against any foe, and to defend one another if attacked.
Syn: Displeasing; disagreeable; distasteful; obnoxious; abhorrent; disgusting; impertinent; rude; saucy; reproachful; opprobrious; insulting; insolent; abusive; scurrilous; assailant; attacking; invading. -- {Of*fen"sive*ly}, adverb -- {Of*fen"sive*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
offensively
adverb
1: in an unpleasantly offensive manner; "he smelled offensively unwashed" [ant: {inoffensively}]
2: in an obnoxious manner; "he said so in one of his more offensively intellectually arrogant sentences" [syn: {objectionably}, {obnoxiously}]
3: in an aggressive manner; "'In this crisis, we must act offensively,' the President said"; "the admiral intends to act offensively in the Mediterranean" [ant: {defensively}]
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |