defiance

1 refusal to obey any defiance of the authoritarian regime would have dire consequences Synonyms of defiance balkiness, contrariness, contumacy, disobedience, frowardness, insubordination, intractability, obstreperousness, rebellion, rebelliousness, recalcitrance, refractoriness, unruliness, waywardness, willfulnessWords Related to defiance civil disobedience, noncooperation; discourteousness, disrespect, impertinence, impoliteness, impudence, inconsiderateness, inconsideration, insolence, rudeness, ungraciousness; doggedness, hardheadedness, mulishness, obduracy, obdurateness, obstinacy, obstinateness, peevishness, pertinaciousness, pertinacity, perversity, pigheadedness, self-will, stubbornness, tenaciousness, tenacity; knavery, mischievousness, naughtinessNear Antonyms of defiance agreeability, amenability, amiability; slavishness, submissiveness, subservience, subserviency; trainability; deference, docility, dutifulnessAntonyms of defiance compliance, obedience, submission, subordinateness, subordination, tractability, tractableness

2 the inclination to resist the troubled youth seems to have an ingrained defiance to authority of any sort Synonyms of defiance resistance, oppositionWords Related to defiance demur, objection, protest, remonstrance; compunction, misgiving, reservation; disobedience, noncompliance, recalcitranceNear Antonyms of defiance compliance, obedience; acceptance, approvalAntonyms of defiance acquiescence

3 an inclination to fight or quarrel a deeply troubled person who seemed the very soul of defiance Synonyms of defiance aggression, aggressiveness, assaultiveness, bellicosity, belligerency, combativeness, contentiousness, belligerence, disputatiousness, feistiness, fight, militance, militancy, militantness, pugnacity, quarrelsomeness, scrappiness, truculenceWords Related to defiance antagonism, fierceness, hostility, hyperaggressiveness, unfriendliness; imperialism, jingoism, militarism; acidity, biliousness, captiousness, crabbiness, crankiness, crossness, disagreeableness, fractiousness, fretfulness, grouchiness, grumpiness, huffiness, irascibility, irascibleness, irritability, irritableness, orneriness, peevishness, pettishness, petulance, querulousness, rudeness, surliness, testiness, waspishnessNear Antonyms of defiance antiaggression, anti-imperialism, antimilitarism; affability, amiability, amicability, benevolence, cordiality, friendliness, geniality, graciousness, pleasantness, sociability; gentleness, kindliness, mildness; amenability, complaisance, placabilityAntonyms of defiance nonaggression, pacifism