Umbrage

noun

Irritation or resentment arising from something perceived to be offensive
Shade cast by a looming object

Usage

"You're absolutely terrible at Words with Friends!" "You need to work on your Scrabble-game, buddy." "Learn some new words, why dontcha!" Hopefully comments like these aren't the reason you're looking up words today (and hopefully no one has been that rude to you). If you've heard any of these things, though, and took offense to such outlandish disparagements, you unfortunately know how it feels to take umbrage.

Umbrage usually refers to the negative feelings, ranging from outrage to annoyance, that are created by something offensive. People can take umbrage at anything said or done which might affront them, from a veiled insult to a case of outright libel. For instance, you might feel umbrage when your spouse suggests that you tie a string around your finger as a mnemonic for your anniversary dinner. Of course, you were not going to forget it five times in a row! Although the offense in question may be unintended or imagined, the resulting umbrage is definitely upsetting. The emotion indicated by umbrage is one of indignation, a feeling of being rubbed the wrong way or being unfairly portrayed.

When you take umbrage from someone, you feel, in a way, that they are casting a pall over what you have said or done. They insinuate that you cannot possibly be right; thus, your credibility is in shadow. This makes more sense when considering another, somewhat rare use of umbrage, which refers to a physical shade cast by an object. This application is especially valid when referring to trees; that dim, cool oasis under your favorite elm would be a good source of umbrage during the summer months. This usage is mostly considered to be outdated, and you're not likely to encounter it much in modern dialogue.

Example: "Rapscallion!" Pete shouted at his therapist. "I take umbrage at your insinuation that I'm oversensitive!"

Example: We spent the hot afternoon reposing in the umbrage of the porch roof.

Origin

If you're wondering why umbrage sounds so much like the word umbrella, you might be interested to know that the two share the same ancestor. Both terms come from the Latin word umbra, which describes a shadow or covering of dimness. The idea of shade further persisted in Latin in the forms of umbraticus and umbraticum, both of which characterize something as being related to a cast shadow. Middle French adapted these terms to form its own ombrage, which had evolved into the English umbrage by the early fifteenth century. The English usage of umbrage strictly referred to shade until the early seventeenth century, at which point its emblematic (and now dominant) meaning was first recorded.

Derivative Words

Umbrageous: This adjective describes an object as providing shade or a person as being easily insulted.

Example: Due to a lack of sunlight, few plants were able to grow under the umbrageous cliff.

Umbrageously: This adverb describes an action as resulting from an affront or as causing a shadow to be cast.

Example: "Yes, I did look in the mirror while I did my makeup this morning," snarled Loretta umbrageously.

In Literature

From Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird:

I wasn't sure what Jem resented most, but I took umbrage at Mrs. Dubose's assessment of the family's mental hygiene.

Here, Scout describes her (justified) indignation in response to the cantankerous Mrs. Dubose's assertions that the Finch family has a history of mental problems.

From Somerset Maugham's Moon and Sixpence

Tahiti is a lofty green island, with deep folds of a darker green, in which you divine silent valleys; there is mystery in their sombre depths, down which murmur and plash cool streams, and you feel that in those umbrageous places life from immemorial times has been led according to immemorial ways.

Here Maugham uses umbrageous to poetically describes literal and figurative shade provided by the island of Tahiti and its geography.

Mnemonic

Take advantage of the umbrage of your umbrella!
Every Potterhead knows how much umbrage Dolores Umbridge caused during her time at Hogwarts!