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Offensive vs Embarrassing - What's the difference?

offensive | embarrassing | Synonyms |

As adjectives the difference between offensive and embarrassing

is that offensive is causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, or hatred while embarrassing is causing embarrassment; makes you feel shy or ashamed; leading to a feeling of uncomfortable self-consciousness.

As nouns the difference between offensive and embarrassing

is that offensive is an attack while embarrassing is the action of the verb to embarrass.

As a verb embarrassing is

present participle of lang=en.

offensive

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, or hatred.
  • Relating to an offense or attack, as opposed to defensive.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
  • Having to do with play directed at scoring.

    • Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "offensive" is often applied: content, material, language, word, comment, remark, statement, speech, joke, humor, image, picture, art, behavior, conduct, act, action. * When the second syllable is emphasized, "offensive" is defined as "insulting". When the first syllable is emphasized, it refers to the attacker of a conflict or the team in a sport who possesses the ball.

    Synonyms

    * aggressive * invidious (Intending to cause envious offense)

    Antonyms

    * inoffensive (not causing offense or disgust ) * defensive (relating or causing defence )

    Derived terms

    * offensiveness

    Related terms

    * offend

    Noun

  • (countable, military) An attack.
    • The Marines today launched a major offensive .
  • (uncountable) The posture of attacking or being able to attack.
    • He took the offensive in the press, accusing his opponent of corruption.

    External links

    * * ----

    embarrassing

    English

    Verb

    (head)

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The action of the verb to embarrass .

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Causing embarrassment; makes you feel shy or ashamed; leading to a feeling of uncomfortable self-consciousness.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}

    Synonyms

    * awkward

    Derived terms

    * embarrassingly