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offensive

[uh-fen-siv, aw-fen-, of-en-] / əˈfɛn sɪv, ˈɔ fɛn-, ˈɒf ɛn- /




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Even after hiring his friend as offensive coordinator, who was clearly incompetent, or after showing himself to be inept as an offensive mind.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026

While showing viewers how offensive players should hold the football to counter the maneuver , Watt encouraged Nantz to “give that a good punch.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

"These aircraft will operate in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against the Houthis," the statement adds.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Rebels in the northern Tigray state of Ethiopia launched an offensive against the federal government last month, but were ultimately forced to retreat and lost control of the state.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

He ran the X’s through the offensive patterns the team had practiced repetitiously for two weeks.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

The frequency of attacks on healthcare suggests that they are "a sustained feature of the war rather than an episodic consequence of large scale offensives," the report said.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Although bombing contributed to Germany’s defeat in World War II, it took ground offensives by the Allied powers to win that war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

It said that "consistent and indiscriminate drone attacks and ground offensives constitute clear violations of ceasefire agreements by the DRC".

From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026

He shouldn’t have lasted two innings but he survived, squelching early Dodger offensives and holding them to those two early runs while completing four innings despite three walks and four hits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025

And he refrained for the moment from ordering further offensives.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman


Vocabulary lists containing offensive

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