Home › Glossary › Letter U

umbrage

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Offense or resentment; also, shade or shadow—dual sense allows for emotional nuance or natural imagery in verse.

Detailed Definition
As emotion, “umbrage” implies slighted pride; as physical, cool shade. In poetry, both appear: taking umbrage, resting in umbrage. The duality enriches metaphor—emotional shadow versus literal. Poets use it to explore how perception wounds or shelters, where umbrage marks sensitivity or refuge, reinforcing themes of honor, retreat, and the ambiguity of shade in reflective and narrative contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
“He took umbrage at the slight,” in a courtly offense; In Shakespeare’s Much Ado: “I take no umbrage, sir”; “She felt umbrage but showed grace”; “Umbrage shadows friendship”; “The king took umbrage at the poet’s truth”; Take no umbrage from fools.
Additional Notes
“Umbrage” shifted from “shade” to “offense”; in diplomatic or social verse, “take umbrage” implies wounded pride, while older uses (“sit in umbrage”) evoke cool refuge—showing semantic evolution within poetic diction.
Also Known As
offense resentment displeasure shade
Skip to main content