Offensive and Upsetting

Offensive

Offensive adjective - Causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment.
Usage example: the smell of rotting food is quite offensive

Upsetting and offensive are semantically related in disagreeable topic. In some cases you can use "Upsetting" instead an adjective "Offensive".

Nearby Words: offend, offence, offensively

Upsetting

Upsetting adjective - Causing worry or anxiety.

Offensive and upsetting are semantically related in property topic. Sometimes you can use "Offensive" instead an adjective "Upsetting", if it concerns topics such as disagreeable.

Nearby Word: upset

Both words in one sentence

  • No, it doesn't make it any less upsetting/offensive/irritating/etc., but (just like the weeaboo example above), it's fixable.
  • Web Video / Oddity Archive Ben will also sometimes insert these into the middle of episodes before potentially offensive or upsetting segments, such as in "Prehistoric Television", where he advises people who are sensitive to Nazi imagery to skip the following part of the episode.
Cite this Source
Upsetting and Offensive. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/offensive/upsetting
Offensive & Upsetting. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/offensive/upsetting>.
Upsetting or Offensive. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/offensive/upsetting.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "offensive" and "upsetting" have occurred on timeline