Defoe

American

[dih-foh] / dɪˈfoʊ /

Or De Foe

noun

Daniel 1659?–1731, English novelist and political journalist.

Defoe British

/ dɪˈfəʊ /

noun

Daniel. ?1660–1731, English novelist, journalist, spymaster, and pamphleteer, noted particularly for his novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). His other novels include Moll Flanders (1722) and A Journal of the Plague Year (1722)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

“But I still sat there and thought, ‘Jermain Defoe’.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

In the south and Midlands of England, Defoe had built an information network among religious dissenters and monitored popular sentiment on important constitutional questions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Defoe recounts the castaway’s thoughts, dreams, fears and disappointments, as well as his meeting with the Caribbean native man he calls Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Defoe, who is 10th on the all-time Premier League list with 162 goals, made his name under Harry Redknapp at West Ham, before departing for Tottenham in February 2004.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026

How she wished she had brought Rainbow in Ribbons instead of Poe and Defoe!

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023