“Offense” or “Offence”

Language

Offense and offence are both English terms.

Usage

Offense is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while offence is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available) 👇:

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
offense	90	10	16	87	36	16	0	18	18	45	34	40
offence	10	90	84	13	64	84	0	82	82	55	66	60

• In the United States, there is a preference for "offense" over "offence" (90 to 10).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 90 to 10 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In India, there is a 84 to 16 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "offense" over "offence" (87 to 13).
• In Canada, there is a 64 to 36 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In Australia, there is a 84 to 16 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "offense" and "offence".
• In Ireland, there is a 82 to 18 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In New Zealand, there is a 82 to 18 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In Jamaica, there is a 55 to 45 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a 66 to 34 preference for "offence" over "offense".
• In Guyana, there is a 60 to 40 preference for "offence" over "offense".

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use offense or offence with sample sentences.

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