defendant
Americannoun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of defendant
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English defendaunt, from Anglo-French ( Middle French, Old French defendant ). See defend, -ant
Explanation
In court, the person who gets sued or accused is called a defendant — they have to defend their innocence or reputation. One thing no one wants to be is a defendant: that means someone sued you, which could cost you a boatload of money. Other defendants are accused of crimes, which is even worse, because you could end up in jail. Turn on any TV show about lawyers, and you'll see some of them defending the defendant, and others trying to convict the defendant. Defendants are definitely on the defensive.
Vocabulary lists containing defendant
Monster
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 6
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Excerpts from "Jacobson v. Massachusetts"
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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:
The defendant, who has more than 365,000 followers on Instagram under the handle RIELLEUK, made it to the X Factor live finals in 2013 as one of the three members of Miss Dynamix.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The fund to which the families are seeking access can only compensate victims who have financial or economic losses related to the crime for which a defendant was convicted, a Justice Department official said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
A spokesperson for Daera said the court directed that the defendant be deprived of the ownership of all farmed animals and ordered the destruction of the animals.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
“Thank you so much, your honor,” the defendant said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
“When you told him the defendant had given you dirty looks your son reacted exactly how, Mrs. Heine?”
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
“Everybody’s very excited about it,” Mark McCloskey, a lawyer representing Jan. 6 defendants, told the Washington Post.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
Henley and six other defendants charged in the case are scheduled to go to trial in February 2027.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
In 2025, it claimed, the defendants hacked into the mobile device of a producer who had collaborated with Grande and accessed unreleased masters, demos and footage from recording sessions.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The new lawsuit names three additional former JPMorgan colleagues as defendants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The defendants should receive clemency, he said, otherwise the future of South Africa would be bleak.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
