defiantly

[ dih-fahy-uhnt-lee ]

adverb

1. with daring or bold resistance to authority:

   In a fearless display, protesters chanted defiantly at police: "Come and shoot us with your tear gas!"

Other Words From

• half-de·fi·ant·ly adverb
• non·de·fi·ant·ly adverb
• o·ver·de·fi·ant·ly adverb
• qua·si-de·fi·ant·ly adverb
• un·de·fi·ant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of defiantly¹

defiant ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Wallace stood defiantly in the door, head thrown back, lips tightly compressed, and Katzenbach left.

From Time

The Silver Sisters post glamorous pictures of themselves tousling their shiny locks, defiantly rebranding granny hair as hot.

From Washington Post

A Christian might say it goes back to Adam and Eve, who abused their God-given free will in defiantly eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

From Nautilus

Digital health and micromobility is defiantly seeing unprecedented demand.

From TechCrunch

Ellen Morton replies defiantly, “Marie Kondo, you don’t know me!”

From Washington Post

The mayor responded defiantly with a kind of military pageant that was truly bizarre for such a secretive organization.

From The Daily Beast

But Kate has clung to her middle-class roots and middle-class ideas of child-rearing defiantly.

From The Daily Beast

Sir Mark Sykes, a crusty diplomat who had colluded with the French to give them Damascus, was more defiantly a misogynist.

From The Daily Beast

“I will answer injustice with justice,” she says defiantly, before crucifying the child-killers.

From The Daily Beast

Traditionally worn by sixth-graders and jocks and those who lounge aggressively, the draw-stringed trouser is defiantly apathetic.

From The Daily Beast

These resolves condemned the Stamp Act and defiantly acclaimed the rights which they considered essential to civil liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

She felt that her summary was precipitate, and drawing herself up defiantly looked hard at Mrs. Leslie.

From Project Gutenberg

There were the sounds of startled gasps behind the flashlight, then a gun barked defiantly.

From Project Gutenberg

She looked at Lowell defiantly as she asked the question, but he thought he detected a note of concern in her voice.

From Project Gutenberg

"This shall cost you dearly," said Young Glory, defiantly, as he faced the crowd.

From Project Gutenberg