umbrage
Americannoun
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offense; annoyance; displeasure.
to feel umbrage at a social snub; to give umbrage to someone; to take umbrage at someone's rudeness.
- Synonyms:
- resentment, grudge, pic
-
the slightest indication or vaguest feeling of suspicion, doubt, hostility, or the like.
-
leaves that afford shade, as the foliage of trees.
-
shade or shadows, as cast by trees.
-
a shadowy appearance or semblance of something.
noun
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displeasure or resentment; offence (in the phrase give or take umbrage )
-
the foliage of trees, considered as providing shade
-
rare shadow or shade
-
archaic a shadow or semblance
Etymology
Origin of umbrage
Explanation
When someone takes umbrage at something, they find it offensive, and it probably makes them angry. Umbrage comes from the same source as umbrella, the Latin umbra, "shade, shadow." The umbrella was invented to keep you in shade, and when you take umbrage at something, you're casting a shadow over the person or thing responsible for the offense. I take umbrage at the suggestion that I'm not a nice person: it's offensive and infuriating. After having devoted my life to helping animals, I might take umbrage at the notion that I've been doing it for publicity purposes: I resent the idea that it was for any other reason than my love of animals.
Vocabulary lists containing umbrage
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The frontman took umbrage at Jackson presenting himself as a messianic figure, protecting hundreds of children, calling the display "distasteful and crap".
From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026
I expected Williams to take umbrage with the idea that he was a font of misinformation, but surprisingly, he wasn’t exactly bothered by that charge.
From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026
“Sylvia covers her apples with brown sugar,” Helen says, taking deep umbrage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
Musk is taking umbrage at the Ryanair CEO after O’Leary rejected using Starlink’s internet service on the discount carrier’s jets.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026
Neighbors who had not yet gone took umbrage at this.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
