Synonyms of defiance

defiance

noun

di-ˈfī-ən(t)s 

1

as in rebellion

refusal to obey

any defiance of the authoritarian regime would have dire consequences

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rebellion
• willfulness
• rebelliousness
• disrespect
• contrariness
• disobedience
• insubordination
• recalcitrance
• contumacy
• rudeness
• waywardness
• unruliness
• intractability
• stubbornness
• refractoriness
• frowardness
• balkiness
• noncooperation
• obstreperousness
• civil disobedience
• obstinacy
• insolence
• tenacity
• perversity
• impudence
• obduracy
• inconsiderateness
• pigheadedness
• inconsideration
• peevishness
• doggedness
• pertinacity
• impoliteness
• self-will
• mischievousness
• naughtiness
• tenaciousness
• ungraciousness
• impertinence
• discourteousness
• hardheadedness
• obdurateness
• knavery
• obstinateness
• mulishness
• pertinaciousness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• compliance
• obedience
• subordination
• submission
• tractability
• subservience
• amiability
• agreeability
• submissiveness
• amenability
• subserviency
• slavishness
• deference
• tractableness
• subordinateness
• docility
• trainability
• dutifulness

2

as in opposition

the inclination to resist

the troubled youth seems to have an ingrained defiance to authority of any sort

Synonyms & Similar Words

• opposition
• resistance
• objection
• protest
• remonstrance
• disobedience
• noncompliance
• demur
• compunction
• reservation
• recalcitrance
• misgiving

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• compliance
• acquiescence
• approval
• acceptance
• obedience

3

as in aggression

an inclination to fight or quarrel

a deeply troubled person who seemed the very soul of defiance

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aggression
• aggressiveness
• hostility
• belligerence
• fight
• pugnacity
• militance
• belligerency
• bellicosity
• militancy
• assaultiveness
• combativeness
• feistiness
• truculence
• contentiousness
• scrappiness
• quarrelsomeness
• disputatiousness
• fierceness
• antagonism
• chip on one's shoulder
• irritability
• unfriendliness
• militantness
• irritableness
• imperialism
• petulance
• militarism
• jingoism
• rudeness
• peevishness
• fractiousness
• crossness
• hyperaggressiveness
• surliness
• disagreeableness
• orneriness
• testiness
• irascibility
• querulousness
• fretfulness
• crankiness
• grumpiness
• grouchiness
• captiousness
• huffiness
• pettishness
• waspishness
• biliousness
• acidity
• irascibleness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pacifism
• nonaggression
• benevolence
• friendliness
• gentleness
• sociability
• cordiality
• graciousness
• geniality
• antimilitarism
• amiability
• affability
• pleasantness
• mildness
• kindliness
• antiaggression
• complaisance
• anti-imperialism
• amicability
• amenability
• placability

Examples of defiance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Others showing a bloodied Trump seconds after the bullet grazed his ear, a fist raised in defiance. —Zac Anderson, USA TODAY, 4 Oct. 2024

The Constitution is the reason that Trump could again become president in defiance of the wishes of the majority. —Michelle Goldberg, The Mercury News, 1 Oct. 2024

Her characters would crash down on consonants, as though landing a plane in the midst of an engine blowout or stretch out vowels in defiance of several laws of physics. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2024

Cases like these frequently turned volatile after officers misinterpreted as defiance someone’s hesitation or inability to follow commands. —John Seewer and Reese Dunklin, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Sep. 2024

Phrases Containing defiance

• in defiance of