as in attacks
the act or action of setting upon with force or violence
the primary offensive by the ground forces will commence at dawn tomorrow
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Recent Examples of offensives
But the forces being deployed are light infantry, units that lack the large armored vehicles, including tanks, that typically underpin sustained ground offensives.
—
Chris Boccia, ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Putin is widely expected to launch new offensives as the weather in Ukraine improves, piling further pressure on Kyiv.
—Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
Nation-states now pair kinetic strikes with digital offensives.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Dynamic shifts on the battlefield — with large swaths of Ukrainian land changing hands in offensives and counteroffensives in the early years of the war — have since given way to a conflict of inches.
—Joanna Kakissis, NPR, 24 Feb. 2026
The report said Russian forces have advanced at an average rate of between 49 to 230 feet per day in their most prominent offensives.
—Arkansas Online, 29 Jan. 2026
Higher-level Russian headquarters interpret this footage as evidence that territory has been captured and therefore do not order further offensives.
—Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Russian forces are intensifying offensives in Donetsk, expanding long-range strikes on cities and energy infrastructure, and pressing for territorial concessions.
—Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
Troops once used stands of trees or other natural barriers to defend themselves against small offensives.
—Thomas Wright, The Atlantic, 11 Nov. 2025
Chris Boccia, ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Putin is widely expected to launch new offensives as the weather in Ukraine improves, piling further pressure on Kyiv.
—Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
Nation-states now pair kinetic strikes with digital offensives.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Dynamic shifts on the battlefield — with large swaths of Ukrainian land changing hands in offensives and counteroffensives in the early years of the war — have since given way to a conflict of inches.
—Joanna Kakissis, NPR, 24 Feb. 2026
The report said Russian forces have advanced at an average rate of between 49 to 230 feet per day in their most prominent offensives.
—Arkansas Online, 29 Jan. 2026
Higher-level Russian headquarters interpret this footage as evidence that territory has been captured and therefore do not order further offensives.
—Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Russian forces are intensifying offensives in Donetsk, expanding long-range strikes on cities and energy infrastructure, and pressing for territorial concessions.
—Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
Troops once used stands of trees or other natural barriers to defend themselves against small offensives.
—Thomas Wright, The Atlantic, 11 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offensives
Noun
-
The White House budget proposes cutting funding for the federal agency created after the September 11, 2001 attacks by $52 million and would require small airports to enroll in a program in which TSA pays for private screeners.—
Reuters,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The attacks bring into sharp relief how some of the key selling points of crypto — decentralization from banks, the ease of transferring large sums, irreversible transactions — also double as its vulnerabilities.—
Megan Cassidy,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Israeli forces had launched raids into southern Lebanon for years, during the war against Hamas in Gaza, and then as the current Iran war began, but the operations have expanded significantly in recent weeks.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Widiyatmoko said a day before Lyons' arrest in Bali, police in Scotland and Spain carried out raids in connection with the case, with the help of Europol, a European Union law enforcement cooperation hub.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
According to state officials, the assaults took place between 2002 and 2008.—
Nick Lentz,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Such units have traditionally been used for missions like large-scale evacuations and amphibious operations that require ship-to-shore movements, including raids and assaults.—
James Legge,
CNN Money,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
His rise to becoming a second-team All-American coincided with Illinois’ rise to becoming one of the best offenses in the country.—
Colleen Kane,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
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Most people would agree that cheating and planning a school shooting are hardly equal offenses, and Borgli doesn't totally stick the landing by sweeping Emma's past impulses under the rug.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
When will these onslaughts of cold end?—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Oil prices have surged since February 28, when the US and Israel opened aggressions by assassinating Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in a series of missile strikes that also killed the commander of the IRGC, the minister of defense, and other top brass.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
12 Mar. 2026
-
As servers delicately navigate around the women, serving plates of food that will never be touched, micro-aggressions are tossed, disguised as jokes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
An outcry five years ago Missouri’s history with Christian boarding schools is why the previous attempts to pass this kind of legislation failed to get any traction.—
Judy L. Thomas,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2026
-
The 6-foot-10 big man made his first six field-goal attempts and scored 11 points in his first eight minutes of floor time.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Drones take on expanding roles across modern battlefields Uncrewed systems are playing a growing role in modern warfare, handling missions from reconnaissance and artillery spotting to precision strikes.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Israel announced waves of incoming strikes from Iran on Sunday and explosions could be heard throughout Tehran.—
Sam Metz,
Fortune,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Offensives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offensives. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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