umbrage ˈʌmbrɪdʒ noun
: a feeling of anger caused by being offended
The word umbrage has appeared in 58 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 7 in “After New Orleans’s Super Bowl Makeover, Some Residents Say: What About Us?” by Rick Rojas and Katy Reckdahl. The article is about New Orlean’s efforts to make improvements like cleaning up litter, adding murals, installing new streetlights and fixing old buildings in time for the Super Bowl:
But residents have mixed feelings about the rush of improvements — surprise and satisfaction, sure, at seeing the heart of their notoriously gritty city now sparkling, but also a dash of umbrage. Some have long seen the city’s power structure as more inclined to invest in the people passing through New Orleans than the ones living there.
“I love the improvements — I honestly do,” said Reggie Ford, 45, a local artist and activist. “But I don’t like how they cherry pick when they want to improve and for who.”
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word umbrage in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
If you want a better idea of how umbrage can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.
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