Webster's English Dictionary

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offend

of.fend \*-'fend\ vb [ME offenden, fr. MF offendre, fr. L offendere to 
   strike agai]nst, offend, fr. ob- against + -fendere to strike - more at 
   OB-, DEFEND 1: to transgress the moral or divine law : SIN  2a: to cause 
   difficulty or discomfort or injury  2b: to cause dislike, anger, or 
   vexation  1a: VIOLATE, TRANSGRESS  1b: to cause pain to : HURT  obs  2: to 
   cause to sin or fall  3: to cause to feel vexed or resentful se hurt 
   feelings or deep resentment, OFFEND may not imply intent; it may suggest a 
   violation of the victim's sense of what is proper or fitting; OUTRAGE 
   implies offending beyond endurance and calling forth extreme feelings; 
   AFFRONT implies treating with deliberate rudeness or contemptuous 
   indifference to courtesy; INSULT suggests deliberately and insolently 
   causing humiliation, hurt pride, or shame - of.fend.er n SYN syn OFFEND, 
   OUTRAGE, AFFRONT, INSULT mean to cau