The article raises the problem of identifying and classifying words that cause a resentment reflection with Russian speakers. Drawing on the examples from the Russian prose, five groups of words that are most often perceived as offensive by characters can be identified. As a result of a comparative analysis of "offensive words" from literary texts and speech the paper reveals offensive expressions relevant for the modern Russian language. The information obtained allows us to approach the question of the practical application of lexical units under study in the field of linguoexpertology.