defense
noun
resistance against attack; protection.
defenselessness
-
a word derived from
defense.
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.
International humanitarian law protects the ex-guerrillas as "subjects in a state of defenselessness," Novoa said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
Burns’ cyclical, sardonic prose underscores the unnamed narrator’s defenselessness against neighborhood gossip that marks the Milkman’s unwanted attentions as consensual.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
“Things like this reflect the state of defenselessness and impunity that prevails in the country,” said lawyer Carlos Trapani, head of the children’s rights organization Cecodap.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 21, 2022
If she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate; a passionate creature whose very defenselessness had made her defense, against which his honor forbade him to prevail.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
She considered herself a heel for ever having been sarcastic to her aunt, who in spite of her corsets had a certain defenselessness plus a certain fineness Jean Louise would never have.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
