DEFENSES Synonyms: 52 Similar and Opposite Words

defenses

noun

plural of defense

as in safeguards

means or method of defending thorns are a rose's defense against grazing animals

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in excuses

an explanation that frees one from fault or blame there's absolutely no defense for your actions

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of defenses The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday its air defenses overnight intercepted 553 Ukrainian drones over 18 Russian regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the waters of the Azov and the Black seas. — ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026 The trouble starts when saliva gets past the body’s defenses—through a bite or into an open cut, for example. — Angela Haupt, Time, 12 Aug. 2026 Sesame seeds are also among the richest natural food sources of copper, a mineral needed for energy production, connective tissue formation, immune function and antioxidant defenses. — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026 Only when these three defenses fail does asset protection planning become relevant, safeguarding assets as a last resort. — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026 More specifically, Raridon is winning more decisively at the top of his routes and creating enough separation to pull away, which helps immensely as a long strider who can win short but primarily threatens defenses at the intermediate level. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 11 Aug. 2026 More drones and missiles are slipping through both sides’ fraying air defenses, meaning that the civilian death toll has increased, and more critical infrastructure is being damaged. — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026 Higher sea levels due to climate change have increased Shanghai’s vulnerability to storms, although the city has impressive defenses. — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 10 Aug. 2026 Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jason Semore’s defenses, with his aggressive 4-2-5 scheme, typically rack up interceptions. — Fisher Isbell, AJC.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defenses

Noun

The new safeguards include requiring law enforcement to label every search with a with a criminal case number, and instituting an automatic review for abnormal search activities, which will trigger proactive lockouts for those users.

— Soo Youn, ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026
Other residents still fear these changes will push the community out if the city does not adopt additional safeguards.

— Gabriela Vidal, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of safeguards

Noun

Kiffin understands that excuses aren’t going to fly, even if some are valid about recruiting during a time when coaches were traveling back and forth from Oxford to Baton Rouge.

— Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Aug. 2026
The Galliano incident had nothing to do with Israel or the kinds of excuses some people are using today for antisemitism.

— Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of excuses

Noun

But the fate of Mangione’s state case, set to go to trial next month, now hangs in the balance as his attorneys seek to get second-degree murder and weapons charges dismissed over double jeopardy protections.

— Kara Scannell, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026
Compared with federal law and that of other states, New York has uncommonly strong protections for defendants facing multiple prosecutions — though they are not guaranteed.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of protections

Noun

At the center lies carceral safety politics—logics that turn fears of violence into justifications for punitive responses.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
His shows were cancelled for what writers for Ynet and Haaretz considered questionable reasons, among them alleged pressure from Netanyahu’s allies, although the networks involved named other justifications, including financial ones.

— Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of justifications

Noun

Someone who bought a Powerball ticket at a Front Range grocery store this week has many, many reasons to celebrate – 500,000 reasons before tax, to be exact.

— Katie Langford, Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2026
Maresca knows that some players need a fresh start for various reasons, which is why James Trafford moved on, despite his close relationship with the Italian from their time together in the under-23s.

— Sam Lee, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of reasons

Noun

Shelton cruised from there, mixing his primary weapons in with athletic defense that garnered big reactions from the Montreal crowd and deflated Nakashima even more.

— Ava Wallace, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Video snippets captured from two highway patrol officers’ cameras showed the man initially standing at a homeless encampment while holding a hammer and two nearly identical homemade weapons, each of them made with a knife affixed to the end of pole.

— Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of weapons

Noun

Plywood shelves lined the walls, their planks bowed in the middle.

— Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
Attesting to his labor is an ovoid pavilion at the exhibition’s center recreating Brancusi’s studio, chock-a-block with his myriad tools and flanked by walls on both sides bearing letters, photographs, and archival items.

— Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 16 Aug. 2026