defiance Hear it!

defiance Definition

de·fi·ance (dē fī′əns, di-)

noun

  1. the act of defying; open, bold resistance to authority or opposition
  2. a challenge

Etymology: ME defiaunce < OFr defiance < defier, defy

defiance Idioms

in defiance of

  1. defying
  2. in spite of

defiance Synonyms

defiance

n.

insubordination, rebellion, resistance, insurgence; see disobedience.

in defiance of

contemptuous of, notwithstanding, in spite of; see regardless 2.

defiance Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • gravity: Chen turned and threw himself up the cliff, his will to live in defiance of gravity and any thoughts of the dragon.
  • logic: In defiance of all logic and commonsense, Britain is going to spend £ 7.4 million on examining the health risks of mobile phones.
  • ban: In the 1980s workers began to stir in defiance of the ban on strikes.
  • law: Do they live in defiance of the laws of Nature?
  • resolution: Due to his defiance of UN resolutions, many more soldiers have been put in harms way.
  • convention: Prisoners are being paraded in defiance of all international conventions.

Converse of object

  • bid: In every country there is an upland or outfield territory, which will always bid defiance to agriculture.
  • show: The conference showed defiance by voting in favor of linking the basic pensions with average earnings.
  • continue: If I had been in their shoes and someone else had been in mine, I would have voted to continue the defiance.
  • choose: We've shown that for regimes that choose defiance, there are serious consequences.
  • shout: Martin McGuinness - his chief co-conspirator - has been shouting defiance on television North and South at democratic politicians.
  • give: Teeth, bones, and hair, give the most lasting defiance to corruption.

Preposition: in

face: This marks an all round bloody success story and proves that defiance in the face of the bastard bailiff can succeed.

Adjective modifier

  • wilful: We have a right to expect that sentences will reflect the damage done to our social fabric by wilful defiance of the law.
  • deliberate: His paintings, with their unexpected juxtaposition of objects, are a deliberate defiance of common sense.
  • apparent: It does this in virtue of a higher Law and in apparent defiance of the lower.
  • continued: Bush may well see this continued defiance by the people of Falluja as something that needs to be crushed.
  • open: The Boston Tea Party was an act of open defiance against the British state, at that time the most powerful in the world.
  • direct: It was to live in direct defiance of the command of the Word of God.

Noun used with modifier

bid: In the poem of 1711, the bard bids defiance to " Mars.