Etymology

offensive

of·fen·sive
O1F4F4E1N1S1I1V4E1

Today it means: Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation. Full definition →

Middle French offensif ← Latin offendere
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromoffendere“to offend”
  2. Middle French · derived fromoffensif
  3. English todayoffensive

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.