umbrage

English

WOTD – 13 July 2007

Etymology

From Middle French ombrage (“umbrage”), from Old French ombrage, from Latin umbrāticus (“in the shade”), from umbra (“shadow, shade”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌm.bɹɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

umbrage (countable and uncountable, plural umbrages)

1. A feeling of anger or annoyance caused by something offensive.

   Synonyms: annoyance, displeasure, odium, offense, resentment, huff, miff, peeve, pique

   • 1796, George Washington, "Farewell Address", American Daily Advertiser:

     Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     —He took umbrage at something or other, that muchinjured but on the whole eventempered person declared, I let slip.

   • 1960, Muriel Spark, chapter 10, in The Bachelors, London: Macmillan:

     She looked very neurotic, moving in a jerky way, her body giving little twitches of habitual umbrage.

   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VI:

     If she knew [a psychiatrist was] observing her son with a view to finding out if he was foggy between the ears, there would be umbrage on her part, or even dudgeon.

   • 2020 June 3, Wesley Morris, “The Videos That Rocked America. The Song That Knows Our Rage.”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     When the call is over, Cooper thanks her — for leashing the dog, but for also endangering him, for living down to herself, for quite a performance of umbrage.

2. A feeling of doubt.

   Synonym: suspicion

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. Leaves that provide shade, as the foliage of trees.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 325:

     It was a relief to change the cheerful meadow for the dark umbrage of the forest which they now entered.

4. (obsolete) Shadow; shade.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     [...] but in the verity of extolment I take him to be a soul of great article and his infusion of such dearth and rareness as, to make true diction of him, his semblable in his mirror, and who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.

Derived terms

• take umbrage
• umbrageous

Translations

feeling of anger or annoyance

• Chamicuro: suchi
• Czech: dotčenost f, uraženost f, pocit urážky
• French: ombrage (fr) m
• German: Anstoß (de) m, Anstoss (de) m (Switzerland and Liechtenstein), Wut (de) f, Verletzung (de) f, Ombrage f
• Hungarian: megütközés (hu)
• Icelandic: gremja (is) f, skapraun (is) f
• Irish: múisiam m
• Maori: hūngeingei
• Romanian: supărare (ro) f, ranchiună (ro) f
• Russian: обида (ru) f (obida), досада (ru) f (dosada)
• Spanish: enojo (es) m, ira (es) m

shadow

• French: ombrage (fr) m
• German: Schatten (de) m
• Icelandic: skuggi (is) m, forsæla f
• Romanian: umbră (ro) f
• Spanish: sombra (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: þykkja f, laufskrúð n, laufskrúð sem veitir forsælu n

Verb

umbrage (third-person singular simple present umbrages, present participle umbraging, simple past and past participle umbraged)

1. (transitive) To displease or cause offense.
2. (transitive) To shade.

Translations

to shade

• French: ombrager (fr)
• German: abschatten, verschatten (de)
• Icelandic: skyggja (is), veita forsælu
• Romanian: umbri (ro), adumbri (ro)

Middle French

Noun

umbrage m (plural umbrages)

1. shadow