How to Use defensive in a Sentence

defensive

1 of 2 adjective

• The coach has a strong defensive strategy.
• When we asked her about the mistakes, she became defensive.
• The city began building a defensive wall around its borders.
• I was surprised by his defensive reaction to my suggestion.
• There's no need to get so defensive. I was only making a suggestion.
• The government decided to join a defensive alliance with several other nations.
• Coach Prime knows what his son brings to the defensive side of the ball.
  — Scott Thompson, Fox News, 26 Sep. 2023
• The Aztecs saw progress in their first-time, full-time starter lured away from the defensive side of the football.
  — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Sep. 2023
• Her impact on the defensive end was sorely missed as the Storm racked up 30 points in the paint.
  — Eli McKown, The Arizona Republic, 13 June 2023
• The Cougars defensive lineman remained on the turf after the hit.
  — Chantz Martin, Fox News, 22 Oct. 2023
• The Chiefs, in fact, have yet to sign a defensive free agent this offseason that wasn’t on the roster a year ago.
  — Jesse Newell, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024
• Riley Greene made one of the best defensive plays of the season Sunday for the Detroit Tigers.
  — Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press, 28 May 2023
• The team as a whole struggles with clock management and a little bit on the defensive end.
  — Jacklyn Krol, Peoplemag, 15 Dec. 2023
• As for the game Wednesday night, the Wizards dropped their sixth straight after struggling again on the defensive end.
  — Ava Wallace, Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2023
• These forts appeared to form a defensive wall that ran from north to south along an eastern boundary of the empire.
  — Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Nov. 2023
• The defensive ends should have a field day against the NFL’s worst offensive tackle pairing.
  — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2024
• Muscala is known for stretching the floor, but his defensive presence was felt.
  — Omari Sankofa Ii, Detroit Free Press, 18 Jan. 2024
• Head coach Steve Clifford, in his second stint with the Hornets, hasn’t been able to make the team a solid defensive squad, which is what he was hired to do.
  — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 6 Mar. 2024
• His son, Cameron Brown, is in his first season with the team as a defensive quality control coach.
  — Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2024
• Clark will help boost a pass rush in need of help after the loss of defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones, who went to the Seahawks this offseason as a free agent.
  — Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 8 June 2023
• One player said the team was segregated by race, with Black players on the defensive side of the ball and white ones on offense.
  — Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 11 July 2023
• Notably, the Warriors squeaked past Utah in their last game before the All-Star break, overcoming a defensive slide in the fourth quarter.
  — Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2024
• The iceman also had a head injury, possibly sustained at the same time, and his right hand shows a defensive wound.
  — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2024
• And while their mission would be defensive, the Marines would have the right to defend themselves as necessary, the official said.
  — Matt Seyler, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2023
• The contract stalemate between the San Francisco 49ers and star defensive end Nick Bosa could be coming to an end.
  — oregonlive, 31 Aug. 2023
• The use of defensive force may stop the attack, thus ending the immediate danger, but the problem has not been fully solved.
  — Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct. 2023
• But the great defensive coordinators don’t wait until the break or the postgame press conference to make changes.
  — Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2023
• Vogel said this was their best game in terms of defensive game-plan execution.
  — Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic, 6 Jan. 2024
• Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd blew past the offensive line and wrapped up Rodgers, dragging him awkwardly to the ground.
  — Philip Anloague, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2023
• Graduate defensive back Emany Johnson leads the Wolf Pack with 45 tackles and has two of the team’s three interceptions.
  — Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Oct. 2023

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defensive

2 of 2 noun

• Change starts by putting the Houthis in their place — and Iran on the defensive.
  — Matthew Continetti, National Review, 12 Jan. 2024
• The center-left in Israel has spent the past two decades on the defensive.
  — Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 30 July 2023
• Johnson is now on the defensive against Martin here in the first half.
  — Jacob Linden, Redbook, 5 Apr. 2023
• Even with this loss, Bluebell has put Richemont on the defensive.
  — Carol Ryan, WSJ, 7 Sep. 2022
• And Philip Davis, prime minister of the Bahamas, has had to come out on the defensive.
  — WIRED, 11 Jan. 2023
• When put on the defensive, just about any bear is tenacious—but so are tigers.
  — Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 21 Feb. 2024
• Democrats were already on the defensive over gay rights.
  — David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2022
• There’s no audio, but the body language is telling: Doty’s on the defensive.
  — Lauren Smiley, WIRED, 7 Nov. 2023
• And the child, who isn't put on the defensive, is genuinely sorry.
  — Amy Joyce, Washington Post, 28 June 2023
• On the play the 6-foot, 200-pound Hamlin was injured, Higgins led with his right shoulder, which hit the defensive back in the chest.
  — Mitch Stacy, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Jan. 2023
• Robinson was named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list, which honors the top defensive back in the country.
  — Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel, 25 July 2022
• The counteroffensive there is one of the first for Ukrainian troops that have been largely on the defensive.
  — Morgan Winsor, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2022
• Democracy was on the defensive across the globe from South America to Asia.
  — Frida Ghitis, CNN, 6 Jan. 2023
• And for the moment, at least, liberal Latinos are on the defensive.
  — Geraldo Cadava, The New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2023
• Williams pulled the helmet off Toronto’s Shaquille Richardson and threw it at the Toronto defensive back.
  — Mark Inabinett | [e-mail], al, 29 July 2022
• One of his protégés, Coby Bryant, won the Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back.
  — Nathan Baird, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2022
• Hamlin, a econd-year defensive back from Pitt, got up from the tackle and then appeared to go limp and fall backward.
  — David K. Li, NBC News, 8 Feb. 2023
• Gale-force winds that left firefighters on the defensive.
  — Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2023
• Oprah Winfrey went on the defensive this week and is standing by her role in starting the People’s Fund of Maui amid a wave of eat-the-rich backlash.
  — Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023
• And having the rangy 6-foot-3 defensive back on the field should provide a boost for a secondary that’s struggled on the road dating back to last season.
  — Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 4 Nov. 2022
• Headed into midterm elections this fall, the latest figures have put the White House on the defensive about the state of the economy.
  — Harriet Torry, WSJ, 28 July 2022
• But now the second-year defensive back is dealing with a calf issue that forced him to miss the game Saturday.
  — Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2022
• The second-year defensive back stood up after the play, but fell straight back seconds later.
  — Bebe Hodges, The Enquirer, 4 Jan. 2023
• But even a 50-50 split gives Democrats a wide range of powers to defend Biden and keep Republicans on the defensive.
  — Carl Hulse, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Nov. 2022
• But even a 50-50 split gives Democrats a wide range of powers to defend Mr. Biden and keep Republicans on the defensive.
  — Carl Hulse, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2022
• Little more than a decade ago, al-Shabab was on the defensive — on the verge of being pushed out of Mogadishu, with many of its leaders already dead from U.S. airstrikes.
  — Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, 17 July 2022
• Recent polls indicate that O'Rourke has more work to do with voters and may be on the defensive on some issues.
  — Jessie Dimartino, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2022
• Ukrainian forces have in recent weeks been on the defensive as Russia launches fierce assaults along the front line.
  — Marc Santora, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2024
• Supporters of the measure were clearly on the defensive.
  — E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024
• Lloyd Austin's struggle with prostate cancer − or, more specifically, his refusal to readily disclose it to the public − has launched a firestorm of criticism and put the White House on the defensive.
  — USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2024

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024