defiant
adjectivenounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//dɪˈfaɪ(j)ənt//
- United States//dɪˈfaɪənt//
Defying.
adjective
- 1
Defying.
She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough![…]What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
- 2
Boldly resisting opposition.
But the demonstrators remained defiant, pouring into the streets by the thousands and venting their anger over political corruption, the high cost of living and huge public spending for the World Cup and the Olympics.
Gunshots rang out in the capital Abuja and also in the neighboring Niger state as police lobbed tear gas to disperse defiant protesters. In Niger, at least six people are now feared dead, local media reported.
Etymology
Borrowed from French défiant, from the verb défier. Doublet of diffident. By surface analysis, def(i) + -ant.
noun
- 1
One who defies opposition.
Countries condemning South Africa, Portugal and Rhodesia still find it necessary to trade with these defiants against so-called world opinion.
Damn the obedients and hail the defiants if you will; the experiment does not motivate confidence about how particular subjects would behave in markedly dissimilar situations.
Forms
- plural
- defiants
- comparative
- more defiant
- superlative
- most defiant