deference
Americannoun
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respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc., of another.
-
respectful or courteous regard.
in deference to his wishes.
noun
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submission to or compliance with the will, wishes, etc, of another
-
courteous regard; respect
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of deference
1640–50; < French déf érence, Middle French, equivalent to defer ( er ) to defer 2 + -ence -ence
Explanation
Sure you wear ripped jeans to school every day, but you don't wear them to your grandmother's house out of deference to her. When you show deference to someone, you make a gesture of respect. The noun deference goes with the verb defer, which means "to yield to someone's opinions or wishes out of respect for that person." If you and your dad disagree about the best route to the grocery store, you might defer to him, and take his route. You're taking his route out of deference to his opinion and greater experience.
Vocabulary lists containing deference
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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ASVAB Word Knowledge
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 4
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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.
In plain and punchy prose, he at times rebuked his fellow justices for not showing sufficient deference to the president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Serpell writes that “Morrison has shaped the way we think about everything,” that she wrote to “think the unthinkable,” to write novels that were “relentlessly black,” giving no deference to the “white gaze.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
It severely curtailed the ability of a president to quickly remove Federal Reserve officials, and thereby exert its influence over monetary policy, and reinforced the deference due to the independence of the central bank.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
"In deference to ongoing rescue efforts by security agencies, the Armed Forces withheld public comment while every operational resource was deployed in the hope of securing his safe return," the statement said.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
But in our context the title bore much less deference.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
