defiance
The feeling, or spirit of being defiantThe feeling, or spirit of being defiant.
Recorded US: Neskaya, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Tom's brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(countable, uncountable)The feeling, or spirit of being defiant.
Trotz, Auflehnung, Widerstand
непоко́рствоnepokórstvo, неповинове́ниеnepovinovénije, пренебреже́ниеprenebrežénije
a defiant act
(countable, uncountable)Open or bold resistance to or disregard for authority, opposition, or power; refusing to give up.
offener Ungehorsam, Widersetzung
спро́тивsprótyv
(countable, uncountable)A challenging attitude or behaviour; challenge.
anstrengendes Verhalten, problematische Haltung, Herausforderung
a hostile challenge
Examples
14 sentencesTom's brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life.
She got married in defiance of her father.
ruОна вышла замуж наперекор отцовской воле. — Tonari
deSie hat gegen den Willen ihres Vaters geheiratet. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
He said this with an air of defiance.
He kept on drinking in defiance of his doctor's warning.
deEr trank weiter unter Missachtung der Warnungen seinen Arztes. — samueldora
His brazen act of defiance almost cost him his life.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 3
Origin
From Middle English defiaunce, from Old French desfiance, from desfier. By surface analysiFrom Middle English defiaunce, from Old French desfiance, from desfier. By surface analysis, defy + -ance.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: defiancesSynonyms
1 synonyms- intentionally contemptuous behavior or attitude:rebelliousness
Word family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.