defied

[dih-fahyd]

adjective

1. challenged or resisted boldly or openly; rebelled against.

   Both novels end with a degree of reconciliation and acceptance between the defied parent and the wayward child.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of defy.

Other Word Forms

• undefied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of defied¹

First recorded in 1810–20; defy ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective; defy ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb

Example Sentences

At the same time, Alphabet has defied the trend, with investors rewarding the company for both its AI advances and its strong core advertising and search businesses.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He disputed allegations made the governor of Niger state, Umar Bago, in local media that the church had defied an order to close its school after threats of attacks.

Read more on BBC

Moviegoers gave Comcast-owned Universal’s Wicked: For Good a big boost in its box office debut, bringing in record sales that defied expectations.

Read more on Barron's

U.S. job growth defied expectations in September, according to a Labor Department report issued nearly seven weeks late due to the government shutdown.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Other kids might have defied the closures and gone anyway, but Anthony followed rules with inflexible intensity, Neal said, especially the ones he set for himself.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• confront 
• disregard 
• elude 
• flout 
• ignore 
• mock 
• oppose 
• provoke 
• resist 
• ridicule 
• spurn 
• thwart 
• violate 
• withstand