The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - offence n.

1) violation, breach, crime, felony, misdemeanour, infraction, transgression, trespass, wrong, wrongdoing, sin, peccadillo, misdeed, fault, infringement, malefaction; dereliction, lapse, slip, error: He was accused of offences against the rights of others. Some regard the splitting of an infinitive an offence against the Queen's English. 2) give offence. incur displeasure, create annoyance or irritation or resentment or pique, evoke indignation or anger; slight, injure, hurt, harm, offend, insult, outrage, Colloq put (someone) down: He denied that he meant to give offence in his criticism of the play. 3) take offence. take umbrage, feel displeasure or annoyance or resentment or pique or indignation, be angered or enraged: Why should you take offence at what a fool says?