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defensive definition

de·fen·sive (dē fen′siv, di-)

adjective

  1. defending
  2. of or for defense
  3. designating or of the side that defends a goal, basket, etc. in a contest
  4. Psychol. constantly feeling under attack and hence quick to justify one's actions

Etymology: ME & OFr defensif < ML defensivus < L defensus: see defense

noun

  1. Obsolete something that defends
  2. a position of defense: chiefly in the phrase on the defensive, in a condition of resisting or being ready to resist attack or danger

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms defensive idiom

defensive Synonyms

defensive

modif.

protective, protecting, defending, shielding, guarding, safeguarding, warding off, watchful, wary, guarded, preventive, averting, forestalling, foiling, balking, arresting, checking, frustrating, thwarting, opposing, resistive, withstanding, armored, on the defensive, in self-defense, in opposition, self-justifying, touchy, prickly, self-protective; see also armed, irritable, unfriendly 1.

Antonyms aggressive*, offensive*, combative.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

defensive Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • become: Take it easy, do not become defensive and reply in a considered way.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: Labor originally decided to dilute the charter because it " made staff more defensive " .

Adjective modifier

  • central: Jack Pearce has warned Bognor's new central defensive pairing they will need to be on top of their game against Fisher Athletic tomorrow.

Modifies a noun

  • midfielder: He's a ready made defensive midfielder who has done really well in the French league in the last two years.

Modifying Another Word

  • purely: Was our involvement in the development of the Quality Mark purely defensive?

Used with adjective complement

  • become: This resulted in downward pressure of fee levels with people becoming even more defensive about their charge out levels.

Preposition: in

  • nature: I have seen some of the advice provided, which was, perhaps inevitably, quite defensive in nature.
defensive usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"defensive." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/defensive>

APA Style

defensive. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/defensive

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