give offense to

give offense to

To cause tension or displeasure. I tried to choose my words carefully, but, due to the controversial subject matter, I feared that I would give offense to the committee no matter what I said.
See also: give, offense
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • be the matter
  • be the matter (with someone or something)
  • a storm in a teacup
  • a storm in a teakettle
  • a storm in a teapot
  • a tempest in a teacup
  • a tempest in a teakettle
  • a tempest in a teapot
  • in bad odor
  • in bad odour
References in periodicals archive
While President Nichol felt compelled to censor the Christian symbol so as not to give offense to anyone, he felt no similar compulsion to shield students from obscene, sacrilegious programs on campus.
Top "Campus Outrage Award" goes to college cross removal
Whatever the religious roots of their concerns with, say, the toleration of difference, respect for law, or the pursuit of the good life, it has become increasingly obvious that their Christianity has melded into a vague humanism that tries, above all, to give offense to no one.
La condition chretienne: Du monde sans en etre
"The campaign really isn't intended to give offense to the prevailing culture," Schirf told The Salt Lake Tribune in a copyright story.
Wasatch ads lampoon sober Mormon society
In a heroic gesture on behalf of denture-wearers everywhere, Breen put his censorious foot down: "The business of the man taking out his false teeth strikes us as a piece of business which will give offense to mixed audiences"--a sentence so preposterous it sounds like something Fields himself might have written.
Fields of Glory
The first is the most obvious: that it is wrong to give offense to other citizens and you must practice restraint - you have to respect other people's lives and properties.
Legitimizing criminal justice policies and practices
there was a cogent case against Helen, the Foundation's chief fund raiser, proclaiming views that were likely to give offense to many potential donors."
Ordinary people: why the disabled aren't so different