Synonyms

defy

American

[dih-fahy, dee-] / dɪˈfaɪ, di- /

verb (used with object)

to challenge the power of; resist boldly or openly.

Love drives the characters to ignore their family feud and defy parental authority.
The artist defies conventional categories by blending very different styles in her work.

Synonyms:

scorn, flout, brave, dare
to offer effective resistance to; make virtually impossible.

Their strategic position is helped by having a fort that defies attack.
The facts were so complex that they defied simple explanation.
to challenge (a person) to do something deemed impossible.

They defied him to dive off the bridge.
Archaic. to challenge to a combat or contest.

noun

a challenge; a defiance.

defy British

/ dɪˈfaɪ /

verb

to resist (a powerful person, authority, etc) openly and boldly
to elude, esp in a baffling way

his actions defy explanation
formal to challenge or provoke (someone to do something judged to be impossible); dare

I defy you to climb that cliff
archaic to invite to do battle or combat

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

defies

plural

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of defy

First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English defien, Old French desfier, from des- dis- ¹ + fier “to trust” (from Vulgar Latin fīdāre (unrecorded), from Latin fīdere; cf. fidelity ( def. ))

Explanation

To defy is to openly refuse to do something. You can defy the no-costumes-in-class rule if you wear your fairy wings to school, but just don’t try to defy the laws of gravity unless you can actually fly. If you deliberately break a rule or ignore an order, you defy, or resist, that rule. The word defy comes from the Latin word disfidare for "renounce one's faith." So if you're expected to be faithful to a certain law or rule but you refuse to be, you defy it. There are different ways to defy — defy your parents by staying out past curfew, or defy common sense by walking in with shoes on your head.

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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.

Monroe’s personal legacy is like a charm bracelet hung with more unsubstantiated rumors than genuine facts, but one undeniable trait was her thirst to defy the world’s expectations.

From Salon • Jul. 6, 2026

I told myself we’d defy the odds and make it work.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026

We were not, it turned out, a newly independent people, but 13 or more of them, any one of which could defy all the others or leave unchallenged whenever it chose.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026

At its essence, AI sees patterns that defy human comprehension—and that of most other technologies—to quickly create powerful synthesized knowledge.

From Barron's • Jun. 24, 2026

I shall defy Gebu, I shall leave the Street of the Crooked Dog forever.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

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