DEFIER Synonyms: 28 Similar and Opposite Words

defier

noun

Definition of defier

as in resister

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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 defier Evan Turk’s provocative and emotive illustrations, portraits within this portrait, bring swirling movement and feeling to the story of this defier and definer of the times. — BostonGlobe.com, 22 Apr. 2021 Everybody enjoys being thought of as a scofflaw, or a hell-raiser, or defier of authority, especially if such activity happened in the past. — Karen Martin, Arkansas Online, 29 Nov. 2020 Critics see a reckless defier of laws and norms who must be held to account. — Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 17 Nov. 2019 Belichick is the league’s most prominent convention-defier; Schwartz is a veteran myth-buster. — Michael Rosenberg, SI.com, 2 Feb. 2018 Roy Moore, defier of Supreme Courts, thumper of Bibles, hater of gays and everyone else who is not exactly like Roy Moore, is the Republican nominee for Senate in Alabama. — Sarah Jones, New Republic, 27 Sep. 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defier

Noun

In November 1971, Berkeley, California, became the first sanctuary city in the country when 12 local churches inspired the City Council to pass a resolution offering sanctuary to draft resisters.

— Menika Dirkson, The Conversation, 8 Apr. 2026
Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.

— Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026

Definition of resister

Noun

This same poll showed Hochul, a Democrat, leading her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, by a margin of 20 percentage points – a promising sign for her reelection campaign.

— Paxton Honerkamp, CNBC, 14 July 2026
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, several would-be Collins' challengers descended upon the scene — and her office — to speak out.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026

Definition of challenger

Noun

Mali’s junta has accused Algeria of backing local extremist rebels who are linked to the Muslim militant group al-Qaida.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 July 2026
That was the year the United States went to war with Spain in Cuba alongside Cuban and Puerto Rican rebels and in the Philippines.

— Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026

Definition of rebel

Noun

Pitcairn is well-known as the island on which Fletcher Christian and other British mutineers from the HMS Bounty took refuge after the 1789 events that toppled Capt.

— Matthew Lee, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Or an historian of Polynesian culture giving a lecture about tattooing, or the time Captain Bligh stopped on the atoll to look for the mutineer Fletcher Christian.

— Antonia Quirke, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026

Definition of mutineer

Noun

But Democratic leaders fear that the insurgent candidates risk blowing winnable races for Democrats with messages considered too radical for most voters.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 July 2026
Across the country, insurgent candidates-—-perhaps most notably Zohran Mamdani in New York City—have found traction by presenting themselves as unapologetic fighters willing to challenge both Republicans and their own party’s leadership.

— Nik Popli, Time, 8 July 2026

Definition of insurgent

Noun

Yesterday, in an effort to galvanize democratic forces, oppositionists announced the foundation of the Strategic Council of Republicans Inside Iran.

— Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist umbrella group of oppositionist forces with ideological and organizational roots in al-Qaeda.

— Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024

Definition of oppositionist

Noun

As the head of China’s Nationalist government, Chiang and his party were trying to establish control in a nation divided among revolutionists, nationalists, Indigenous warlords, and a developing communist army and government.

— Susan Tate Ankeny, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Apr. 2024
Many revolutionists see heavy tank casualties in Ukraine as the key indicator for the tank’s looming obsolescence in the face of newly lethal precision antitank weapons.

— Stephen Biddle, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2023

Definition of revolutionist

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“Defier.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defier. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of defier

noun

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