defensiveness
Americannoun
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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.
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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.
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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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of defensiveness
First recorded in 1595–1605; defensive ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )
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.
An always-on AI clone is that defensiveness disguised as cool innovation.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
I hope we’ll move beyond defensiveness and talk of federal compacts and instead take action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
Humorous responses to rage bait, which depends on eliciting defensiveness that can be fed back into the outrage machine, robs it of oxygen.
From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2025
A culture of reputational defensiveness was able to take root, and false narratives were re-run.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
Mustafa’s voice is sincere, without a shred of the defensiveness that creeps in when he apologizes to our parents.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
