MEANING
1. To confront authority with open resistance, or refuse to obey an order or expectation.
2. To resist an attempt, limit, or explanation, or prove impossible to overcome.
Use it for
Use for deliberate opposition to a rule, person, or threat.Show a character choosing resistance despite likely consequences.
Words that belong together
- defy authority
- defy an order
- openly defy
- defy explanation
- defy convention
- defy expectations
On the page
The apprentice defied the curfew and carried the lantern beyond the wall.
The inscription defied translation even after the ink was restored.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- defy
- Past tense
- defied
- Past participle
- defied
- Present participle
- defying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- defy
- Present continuous
- am/is/are defying
- Present perfect
- have/has defied
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been defying
- Past
- defied
- Past continuous
- was/were defying
- Past perfect
- had defied
- Past perfect continuous
- had been defying
- Future
- will defy
- Future continuous
- will be defying
- Future perfect
- will have defied
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been defying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Defy usually implies deliberate resistance; it is stronger than simply failing to comply. Sense 2: This sense often takes an abstraction as its object and does not imply intentional rebellion.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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