Umbrage is a feeling of being annoyed, offended, and/or angry.
Pronunciation:
UM bridge
Part of speech:
Noun, the uncountable kind: “he took umbrage at her remark,” “she channels her umbrage into her art.”
Other forms:
umbrageous, umbrageously, umbrageousness
How to use it:
This word is formal and serious.
Talk about someone taking umbrage, usually at (or with) whatever thing seemed offensive or insulting: “He took umbrage at her silent disregard.”
Or, talk about someone’s umbrage, or about umbrage in general: “Tasteless tweets unite us in our umbrage.”
The extent or intensity of umbrage, like any emotion, varies from person to person, so we can talk about people who take great umbrage, slight umbrage, instant umbrage, eventual umbrage, etc. When someone replies to your email and misspells your name–even though the correct spelling is right in front of them–you might laugh it off, or you might take umbrage immediately. Or when someone introduces you to a large crowd and mispronounces your name–even though they were trained on the correct pronunciation–you might take umbrage, or you might take petty revenge seven years later.
examples:
I’m pretty secure about my age. I don’t take umbrage at being carded or at not being carded, at being called “Missy” or at being called “Ma’am.”
“Yet for all his dark accusations, Karzai, who speaks cultured and flawless English, can be diplomatic and charmingly self-aware. He veers unexpectedly from dignified umbrage to chortling glee.”
— Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 14 February 2018