- a military operation in which large numbers of soldiers, etc. attack another country synonym strike
- an air offensive
- They launched the offensive on January 10.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- all-out
- full-scale
- large-scale
- …
- launch
- mount
- plan
- …
- offensive against
- a series of actions aimed at achieving something in a way that attracts a lot of attention synonym campaign
- The government has launched a new offensive against crime.
- a sales offensive
- The public seems unconvinced by their latest charm offensive (= their attempt to make people like them).
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- all-out
- full-scale
- large-scale
- …
- launch
- mount
- plan
- …
- offensive against
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French offensif, -ive or medieval Latin offensivus, from Latin offens- ‘struck against’, from the verb offendere ‘strike against’.
Idioms
See offensive in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee offensive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe on the offensive
- to be attacking somebody/something rather than waiting for them to attack you
- The Scots were on the offensive for most of the game.
- The government is very much on the offensive in the fight against drugs.
go on (to) the offensive | take the offensive
- to start attacking somebody/something before they start attacking you
- She took the offensive, challenging her critics to prove their allegations.
Check pronunciation:
offensive