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Racist vs Offensive - What's the difference?

racist | offensive |

As nouns the difference between racist and offensive

is that racist is a person who believes a particular race is superior to others while offensive is offensive (posture of attacking or being able to attack).

As an adjective racist

is of, relating to, or advocating racism.

racist

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A person who believes a particular race is superior to others.
    • I think that racists and xenophobes hold our society back.

    Hyponyms

    *(l), (l) *(l)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of, relating to, or advocating racism.
  • * {{quote-video
    • , date = 2007-04-24 , episode = George Can't Let Sleeping Mexicans Lie , title = , people = Luis Armand Garcia , role = Max Lopez , season = 6 , number = 15 , passage = I'm pretty sure I'm flunking math because my teacher is racist against Latinos. }}

    Related terms

    * racism

    See also

    * bigot * xenophobe

    Anagrams

    * * English words suffixed with -ist ----

    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

    * * ----