as in resister
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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
The Ordinary's Granactive Retinoid* 2% Emulsion ($9.80) is a retinoid active, part of the family of age-defiers that helps reduce wrinkles.
—Macaela MacKenzie, Allure, 26 Jan. 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
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
The Ordinary's Granactive Retinoid* 2% Emulsion ($9.80) is a retinoid active, part of the family of age-defiers that helps reduce wrinkles.
—Macaela MacKenzie, Allure, 26 Jan. 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
-
Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
-
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
Noun
-
DeGette has defeated primary challengers before, but this time her opponents have lined up long endorsement rosters.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
31 May 2026
-
Regardless of what Demuth decides, Qualls likely will face a primary challenger in August.—
Jimmy Lovrien,
Twin Cities,
31 May 2026
Noun
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Accompanying the violence, both the Naxals and the security forces – including local militia raised to combat the rebels – have been accused of horrific human rights abuses, including abductions, torture and rape.—
Dhruv Tikekar,
CNN Money,
30 May 2026
-
The rebels have reported two cases.—
Jean-Yves Kamale,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
The uniform of the conformist — sports shirt, cardigan, tennis shoes — is as easily recognized as that of the recusant — dirty white T, sideburns, two days’ growth of beard.—
Chris Jones,
chicagotribune.com,
15 July 2019
Noun
-
Language purists like to remind anyone who will listen that decimation actually means the slaughter of one in ten people, and was the military punishment wielded by the Roman army against deserters and mutineers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Few among the bureaucratic, business, and even military elites denounced the mutineers, exposing limited support for Putin.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
In recent weeks, the race for Los Angeles mayor has been dominated by reality star Spencer Pratt, who, following an expectation-exceeding debate performance, has risen in the polls with an insurgent campaign specializing in producing or promoting brash and direct online videos.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
2 June 2026
-
Traders on prediction market platform Kalshi think the incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and insurgent former reality TV star Spencer Pratt are most likely to advance to the second round.—
Davis Giangiulio,
CNBC,
2 June 2026
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
Noun
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The collection drew inspiration from two seemingly distant sources: a still-life painting of a shirt collar by Joe Brainard, the prolific 1960s New York writer and artist, and a short story by Yu Dafu, the early 20th-century Chinese author and revolutionist.—
Denni Hu,
Footwear News,
17 Oct. 2025
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In a country shackled and scarred by race, religion, gender, and class, much of that rationalized and reified by mainline American churches, the Disciples were genial revolutionists offering inclusion, education, and empowerment for those at the margins.—
Richard D. Mahoney,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Defier.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defier. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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