defiance

noun

de·​fi·​ance di-ˈfī-ən(t)s 

dē-

1

: the act or an instance of defying : challenge

jailed for defiance of a court order

2

: disposition to resist : willingness to contend or fight

dealing with a child's defiance

Phrases

in defiance of

: contrary to : despite

seemingly in defiance of the laws of physics

He returned to the pulpit May 22 in defiance of an order by church leaders banning him from television preaching for one year.

—Daniel E. Kubiske

Synonyms

• balkiness
• contrariness
• contumacy
• disobedience
• frowardness
• insubordination
• intractability
• obstreperousness
• rebellion
• rebelliousness
• recalcitrance
• refractoriness
• unruliness
• waywardness
• willfulness

Examples of defiance in a Sentence

any defiance of the authoritarian regime would have dire consequences

the troubled youth seems to have an ingrained defiance to authority of any sort

Recent Examples on the Web

She was shown writing her real name (girls and women in Gilead are forbidden to read and write) and giving the camera a signature June look of defiance. —Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 28 Mar. 2025

Below ground, Red Ribbon, a hidden cocktail lounge, nods to Asheville’s spirited anti-Prohibitionists, who wore red ribbons as a symbol of defiance. —Jenn Rice, AFAR Media, 26 Mar. 2025

There, the collective created a domestic hideaway in defiance of the consumer mecca that the mall represented, documented the project, and used the space undetected for years. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2025

Any left-leaning politician who wants to moderate on trans issues will have to do so in defiance of the Left itself. —Jack Butler, National Review, 23 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English diffiaunce, defyaunce, borrowed from Anglo-French defiance, difiaunce, from defier, desfier "to renounce, challenge, defy entry 1" + -ance, -aunce -ance

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for defiance

• appliance
• compliance
• reliance
• geoscience
• neuroscience
• noncompliance
• pseudoscience
• science

Kids Definition

defiance

noun

de·​fi·​ance di-ˈfī-ən(t)s 

1

: the act or an instance of defying : challenge

2

: a tendency to resist : contempt of opposition