defy
Americanverb (used with object)
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defies,
present (3rd person singular)
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defied,
past participle, past
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defying
present participle
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to challenge the power of; resist boldly or openly.
Love drives the characters to ignore their family feud and defy parental authority.
The artist defies conventional categories by blending very different styles in her work.
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to offer effective resistance to; make virtually impossible.
Their strategic position is helped by having a fort that defies attack.
The facts were so complex that they defied simple explanation.
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to challenge (a person) to do something deemed impossible.
They defied him to dive off the bridge.
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Archaic. to challenge to a combat or contest.
noun
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defies
plural
verb
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to resist (a powerful person, authority, etc) openly and boldly
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to elude, esp in a baffling way
his actions defy explanation
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formal to challenge or provoke (someone to do something judged to be impossible); dare
I defy you to climb that cliff
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archaic to invite to do battle or combat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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defiernoun
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predefyverb (used with object)
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redefyverb (used with object)
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defiableadjective
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undefiableadjective
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defyinglyadverb
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undefiablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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defysimple
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defiessimple
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have defiedperfect
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has defiedperfect
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am defyingprogressive
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are defyingprogressive
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is defyingprogressive
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have been defyingperfect progressive
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has been defyingperfect progressive
Past
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defiedsimple
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had defiedperfect
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was defyingprogressive
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were defyingprogressive
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had been defyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of defy
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English defien, Old French desfier, from des- dis- 1 + fier “to trust” (from Vulgar Latin fīdāre (unrecorded), from Latin fīdere; cf. fidelity ( def. ))
Explanation
To defy is to openly refuse to do something. You can defy the no-costumes-in-class rule if you wear your fairy wings to school, but just don’t try to defy the laws of gravity unless you can actually fly. If you deliberately break a rule or ignore an order, you defy, or resist, that rule. The word defy comes from the Latin word disfidare for "renounce one's faith." So if you're expected to be faithful to a certain law or rule but you refuse to be, you defy it. There are different ways to defy — defy your parents by staying out past curfew, or defy common sense by walking in with shoes on your head.
Vocabulary lists containing defy
The Cay
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I Am Malala
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It will certainly defy the odds and expectations, but I feel it might be just a very entertaining ride as Hull City try.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
He is able to throw it with enough spin that it appears to defy gravity and mystically rise as it crosses the plate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The administration did not defy the tax laws.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Since Kiki’s abilities allow her to defy gravity, she runs packages across town, avoiding auto traffic and pedestrian crowds.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The convoluted syntax, multiple negatives, indefinite antecedents, and masterful circumlocutions of this statement defy comprehension.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
So singular that it all but defies any kind of tea-leaf-reading or, heaven forbid, attempts at replication.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Bouaddi controls matches in a manner which defies his tender age, impressing in Morocco's opening draw with Brazil where he outshone Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Because it was his favorite kind of question: one that is simple to state yet defies a simple answer.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
“Although Vibe ultimately defies traditional vehicle classification, it plays comfortably in nearly every automotive category, while fitting neatly into none,” GM gushed in a press release around the time the Vibe was introduced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
A starving Greek community defies Nazi soldiers by hanging out thousands of forbidden national flags.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Norman, a veteran conservative and member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, supports much of Trump's agenda but has occasionally defied Republican leaders and backed Nikki Haley rather than Trump in the 2024 presidential primary.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
These are the reasons I am predicting a Premier League drop-off for the Cherries - but would not be surprised to see this one defied.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
But she also defied the industry tendency to pigeonhole performers based on the breakout success of characters like Claire Bennet.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
His films so strongly defied categorization that they necessitated an eponymous term: Lynchian.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
He had a looseness and a fluidity that defied physics—imagine a jellyfish if it could walk on land.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
He’s a menace on stage in the best way possible, almost defying an audience to like him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Yet controversy dogs it: The term “virtue signaling” has not entered the common parlance yet, but on U.S. college campuses and elsewhere, Mr. Simon is confronted by protesters accusing him of defying the U.N. ban.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
They included General Dietrich von Choltitz, the last Nazi commander in Paris, who arrived in late August 1944 after defying Hitler and surrendering the city.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
O’Hearn accused the government of defying her orders when, instead of releasing the man, Immigration and Customs Enforcement transferred him to a different facility in New York.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
“We should thank you for defying the instructions of your faction leaders? Thank you for trying to prevent one of your faction leaders from killing Jeanine Matthews? You behaved like a traitor.”
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
