offensiveness

Everyday

1. Offensiveness is the quality of being rude or hurtful, so that it upsets or insults people. tree →
2. Being very unpleasant to the senses: the offensiveness of a smell. tree →

In the lessons

In ethics and online safety lessons: the offensiveness of a joke or comment. In media: films are rated partly for the offensiveness of the language. It tells the reader how much something hurts or insults.

Examples

• The offensiveness of his joke shocked the class. tree →
• People complained about the offensiveness of the advert. tree →
• Swear words are graded by their offensiveness. tree →
• She did not see the offensiveness of what she said. tree →
• The offensiveness of the smell made us hold our noses. tree →
• We discussed the offensiveness of name-calling. tree →

Note

Uncountable. From offensive (rude) + -ness. Related: offend, offence (UK) / offense (US). Trap: «offensive» in sport means attacking, but «offensiveness» is almost always about rudeness.