defiant
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of defiant
First recorded in 1830–40; from French défiant, Old French, present participle of defier “to challenge, defy”; see defy, -ant
Explanation
Have you ever seen a picture of a protester who is about to be carried off by police but is still shouting or resisting, fighting to the bitter end? That person is defiant. Someone who is defiant is bold, even in the face of defeat. A defiant person is usually fighting a powerful enemy. People who protest in countries controlled by dictators are defiant. Rosa Parks was defiant when she refused to give up her seat on the bus, even though the law at that time dictated that black people had to stand when whites needed a seat. Small children are defiant too, sometimes over nothing more than a request to share their toys.
Vocabulary lists containing defiant
List 3
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ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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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.
And then if you have more than one child, you may well be managing that defiant toddler while simultaneously experiencing the hormone crash, the sleeplessness, the bobble-headed feeling of the newborn period all over again.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
Flynn was being punished for his “reckless personality and defiant way of life,” Meyers writes in “Inherited Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Vietnam.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Despite being delayed by a defiant 97 by Saud Shakeel, England dismissed the tourists to win by 194 runs.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
But Iran -- which has already weathered decades of sanctions -- has remained defiant, with officials saying they have a two-year plan to counter the pressure.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Is she unburdening herself, going along with it, or is she defiant, denying that she ever wanted help in the first place?
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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.
