defensiveness

American  

[dih-fen-siv-nis] / dɪˈfɛn sɪv nɪs /

noun

1. excessive concern with guarding against the real or imagined threat of criticism, injury to one’s ego, exposure of one’s shortcomings, etc..

   Employee defensiveness may be reduced by moving the focus of the conversation from the person to the behaviors.

2. the condition of being abnormally sensitive to certain stimuli, leading to avoidance or overreaction.

   Sensory defensiveness often takes the form of increased negative reactivity to noises from fans, clocks, car doors, etc.

3. the state or condition of being prepared to defend against attack from an enemy.

   A military adviser’s job involves improving a nation's army and overall defensiveness against foreign attackers.

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Other Word Forms

• nondefensiveness noun
• overdefensiveness noun
• semidefensiveness noun
• undefensiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of defensiveness

First recorded in 1595–1605; defensive ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

She described the meeting as a “chaotic mess of defensiveness and attack.”

From New York Times

There’s a defensiveness here, an anxiety that is understandable.

From New York Times

He found that the highest-rated therapists tended, in those moments, to avoid responding with hostility or defensiveness, but instead replied with a pairing of language and tone that fostered a positive bond.

From New York Times

Thus, the great rage and defensiveness and lashing out when the many lies of Whiteness are exposed as such.

From Salon

Lumping peaceful demonstrators in with vandals and troublemakers in a crowd, the panel found, led to “unwarranted defensiveness and fear in SPD.”

From Seattle Times