Synonyms of defiant

defiant

adjective

di-ˈfī-ənt 

as in rebellious

given to resisting authority or another's control

the defiant puppy refused to let go of the football

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rebellious
• rebel
• stubborn
• willful
• contrary
• disobedient
• adamant
• contumacious
• dogged
• mischievous
• unruly
• rigid
• wayward
• recalcitrant
• insubordinate
• obstreperous
• naughty
• restive
• intractable
• ungovernable
• refractory
• dissident
• balky
• unrelenting
• froward
• wild
• rude
• untoward
• resistant
• recusant
• insurgent
• uncooperative
• uncontrollable
• incompliant
• obstinate
• bad
• mutinous
• uncompromising
• headstrong
• implacable
• obdurate
• opinionated
• peevish
• unbending
• unyielding
• mulish
• negativistic
• noncooperative
• hardheaded
• inflexible
• pertinacious
• immovable
• fractious
• unmanageable
• impudent
• adamantine
• insolent
• pigheaded
• disrespectful
• monkeying
• wrongheaded
• disorderly
• undisciplined
• perverse
• nonconformist
• self-willed
• ornery
• errant
• ungracious
• uncouth
• discourteous
• inconsiderate
• impertinent
• unmannerly
• impolite
• uncivil
• misbehaving
• ill-mannered
• monkeyish
• ill-natured
• ill-bred

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• obedient
• docile
• submissive
• compliant
• cooperative
• amiable
• amenable
• deferential
• tractable
• acquiescent
• agreeable
• conformable
• behaved
• respectful
• disciplined
• polite
• yielding
• biddable
• courteous
• obliging
• well-bred
• servile
• ruly
• obsequious
• subservient
• orderly
• slavish
• proper
• decorous
• mannerly
• manageable
• controllable
• trainable
• kowtowing
• governable

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of defiant

Israeli and American leaders have been sharpening their threats before elections in both countries, while Iranian leaders have remained defiant. — Arkansas Online, 27 Oct. 2026

There was a defiant mood in the crowd, with a handful of protesters targeting the police with lasers. — Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Angry and defiant, McQueen became a full throttle juvenile delinquent, and his mother sent him to the California Junior Boys Republic in Chino. — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026

From men wearing pink to push back against the pressures of toxic masculinity to women pushing back against unrealistic body standards, pink has become a color of defiant empathy. — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026