Offended

How to spell offended

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce offended

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does offended mean?

1. verbCaused someone to feel hurt, upset, or angry by a remark or action.
2. adjectiveFeeling hurt, resentful, or angry because of something said or done.

Offended in a sentence

• verb

  His blunt comment about the budget clearly offended several colleagues.

• adjective

  He looked deeply offended when his work was criticised in the meeting.

• verb

  The joke offended a few guests at the wedding reception.

• adjective

  Many customers were offended by the tone of the company's reply.

Where does offended come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin offendere, which literally meant 'to strike against' or 'to knock into', formed from the prefix ob- meaning 'against' and the verb fendere meaning 'to strike or hit'. In Latin the sense already moved from a physical blow to causing harm or giving displeasure, so to offend someone was to bruise their feelings rather than their body. English took the word through Old French offendre in the 1300s, and the past form offended settled into the spelling we use today. The same fendere root, meaning 'to strike', also sits inside 'defend' (to strike away from) and 'fender', the part of a car built to take a knock. Knowing that the double f comes from ob- colliding with fendere can help anchor the spelling, since only one f belongs to the prefix and one to the root.

How the word is built

• of- (from Latin ob-: against)
• -fend (from fendere: to strike)
• -ed (past-tense/participle suffix)