Maybe, crude, offensive idiots laughing, initially (3)
I believe the answer is:
oil
'maybe crude' is the definition.
(I know that crude is a type of oil)
'offensive idiots laughing initially' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'offensive idiots laughing' is 'OIL'.
(Other definitions for oil that I've seen before include "valuable commodity" , "Fossil fuel" , "what can be seen on iceberg" , "Viscous substance for lubrication" , "painting" .)