Synonyms of defying

defying

verb

present participle of defy

1

as in disobeying

to go against the commands, prohibitions, or rules of

in those days a woman was brave if she defied fashion and wore white after Labor Day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disobeying
• ignoring
• violating
• mocking
• resisting
• dismissing
• rejecting
• opposing
• disregarding
• fighting
• rebelling (against)
• flouting
• overlooking
• breaching
• scorning
• withstanding
• transgressing
• breaking
• combating
• passing over
• contesting
• bucking
• revolting (against)
• disputing
• disobliging
• brushing (off)
• pooh-poohing
• tuning out
• infringing
• shrugging off
• scoffing (at)
• winking (at)
• overpassing
• mutinying (against)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• following
• obeying
• complying (with)
• conforming (to)
• serving
• submitting (to)
• yielding (to)
• minding
• surrendering (to)
• deferring (to)
• stooping (to)
• conceding (to)
• cooperating (with)
• keeping
• observing
• capitulating (to)
• obliging
• agreeing (to)
• regarding
• heeding
• hearing
• attending
• goose-stepping (to)
• watching
• marking
• noticing
• noting
• listening (to)
• acceding (to)
• assenting (to)
• acquiescing (to)

2

as in daring

to invite (someone) to take part in a contest or to perform a feat

after missing the target, she defied her boyfriend to do better

Synonyms & Similar Words

• daring
• challenging
• confronting
• stumping
• braving
• breasting
• facing
• brazening
• bearding
• outbraving
• outfacing

3

as in confronting

to oppose (something hostile or dangerous) with firmness or courage

a rescue team willing to defy the raging storm

Synonyms & Similar Words

• confronting
• facing
• braving
• withstanding
• daring
• resisting
• breasting
• encountering
• standing up to
• brazening
• fighting
• outbraving
• bearding
• meeting
• outfacing
• affronting
• challenging
• approaching
• fronting
• standing
• opposing
• facing up (to)
• battling
• combating
• accosting
• repelling
• cornering
• contending (with)
• squaring (off)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoiding
• sidestepping
• dodging
• shirking
• ducking
• eschewing
• shunning
• evading
• shaking
• escaping
• eluding
• funking

4

as in resisting

to refuse to give in to

a bicyclist who regularly defies illness and infirmity in order to compete in races

Synonyms & Similar Words

• resisting
• opposing
• withstanding
• fighting
• bucking
• repelling
• combating
• thwarting
• contradicting
• contesting
• challenging
• battling
• countering
• hindering
• contending (with)
• stemming
• obstructing
• disputing
• balking
• frustrating
• checking
• baffling
• foiling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• submitting (to)
• yielding (to)
• bowing (to)
• succumbing (to)
• surrendering (to)
• stooping (to)
• giving in (to)
• capitulating (to)
• knuckling under (to)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of defying

The traditionalist Catholic group whose bishops and priests were excommunicated last week for defying Pope Leo XIV has ties to the Kansas City area. — Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 9 July 2026

Elsewhere, Fliegen Lernen finds Wüsthoff working alongside Onnen Bock and Bureau B’s Gunther Buskies on rhythmically adventurous, genre-defying pieces that revisit the collective spirit of Faust’s earliest days. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 9 July 2026

Oppenheimer follow-up about a man haunted by defying the gods & dooming civilization — this one fights to avenge his own hubris. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 6 July 2026

The Zion Church is among the largest churches that are unregistered with the Chinese authorities, defying restrictions from the officially atheist Communist Party requiring believers to worship only in registered congregations. — ABC News, 4 July 2026

With Lionel Messi, then 35, defying nature in Tom Brady-like fashion, Argentina stormed to its third World Cup title, which worked in Telemundo’s favor. — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 3 July 2026

That’s a genre-defying triumph that a bigger distributor, like Amazon MGM, might have had a harder time promoting. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 2 July 2026

These changes are the result of fierce competition between a handful of major brands, each pushing the game, and the athletes’ speed, power, and physics-defying spin, forward. — Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 2 July 2026

Gerber, however, made the look her own with a gravity-defying structure. — Christina Perrier, InStyle, 2 July 2026