defy

1 of 2

verb

de·fy di-ˈfī

dē-

defied; defying

Synonyms of defy next

transitive verb

: to confront with assured power of resistance : disregard

defy public opinion

in trouble for defying a court order

: to resist attempts at : withstand

the paintings defy classification

a decision that defies all logic

: to challenge to do something considered impossible : dare

defied us to name a better movie

archaic : to challenge to combat

defy

2 of 2

noun

de·fy di-ˈfī

ˈdē-ˌfī

plural defies

: challenge, defiance

observers took this to be a form of defy—

Jack Alexander

Example Sentences

Verb She defied her parents and dropped out of school. The group has continued to defy all efforts to stop them.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Over the past week, lawyers for Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and Karen Price, the sister of the victim, have told the Arizona Supreme Court that Hobbs does not have the legal authority to defy the order. —

Elizabeth Pritchett, Fox News, 16 Mar. 2023 But there are some people who seem to defy their age. —

Aditi Gurkar, Fortune Well, 15 Mar. 2023 There are suits made with tulle and faux-fur and fruit-shaped appliqué, along with optical illusion bikinis and suits that seem to defy the laws of gravity. —

Teddy Minford, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Mar. 2023 Everyone predicts it, the numbers defy it, and it gets delayed, again and again. —

Alan Murray, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2023 Flocking Mirrors Okay, so the fanciful Dyson Sphere appears to defy the laws of physics. —

Adam Hadhazy, Popular Mechanics, 7 Mar. 2023 The irreplaceable Armond White, our film critic, is willing and ready to defy any and every critical consensus that is shallow, or untruthful. —

Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 7 Mar. 2023 Catton brings to mind authors like Sarah Waters and Susanna Clarke, who defy easy genre to create books big enough to contain literary style, complex characters, and expansive social issues. —

Lauren Leblanc, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2023 The approval of new settlements by Israel would appear to defy that claim. —

Aref Tufaha And Josef Federman, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2023

Noun

There are also vehicles that kind of defy trailering, at least under normal circumstances, like the old U.S. military Unimog (pictured above), complete with a hydraulic front-end loader. —

Sebastian Blanco, Car and Driver, 8 Jan. 2023 Over the past few years, astronomers have uncovered about a dozen objects in the distant solar system that defy expectations. —

Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2019 But so many gathering places in New York City defy categorization. —

Karrie Jacobs, Curbed, 18 July 2022 Ciara and Andreas defy categorization by being other worldly good looking with chaotic neutral personalities. —

Brian Moylan, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2022 Can Christian Pulisic — if healthy — and the young American squad defy odds again and knock off a soccer superpower in the Netherlands? —

Chris Ilenstine, Chicago Tribune, 2 Dec. 2022 The financial inclusivity scores for the U.S. defy categorization. —

Byseema Shah, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2022 But Curry has done nothing but defy odds his entire career. —

Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Sep. 2022 The challenge for Democrats will be to maintain the energy for several more months and defy trends that typically trip up the party in power. —

Steve Peoples, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'defy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English defien "to renounce, disavow, scorn, challenge to fight," borrowed from Anglo-French defier, desfier, from de-, des- de- + fier "to pledge, trust in, rely on," going back to Vulgar Latin *fīdāre, re-formation of Latin fīdere "to trust (in), have confidence (in)" — more at faith entry 1

Note: The sense history was perhaps "to break faith with" > "to scorn" > "to challenge to a fight," though the latter meaning appears to be the earliest in Old French.

Noun

in part borrowed from Middle French deffy, noun derivative of defier "to challenge, defy entry 1," in part derivative of defy entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Noun

1580, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of defy was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century