1
as in disobeying
to go against the commands, prohibitions, or rules of
in those days a woman was brave if she defied fashion and wore white after Labor Day
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2
as in daring
to invite (someone) to take part in a contest or to perform a feat
after missing the target, she defied her boyfriend to do better
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3
as in confronting
to oppose (something hostile or dangerous) with firmness or courage
a rescue team willing to defy the raging storm
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4
as in resisting
to refuse to give in to
a bicyclist who regularly defies illness and infirmity in order to compete in races
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of defying
The bottom line Last month, stocks succeeded in defying gravity, soaring instead of letting the historical weight of their poor performance in September bring them down.
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Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2024
Piled atop Bailey's head like a fluffy, fabulous cloud was a gravity-defying beehive made up of voluminous, softly teased swoops of hair.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 2 Oct. 2024
Additionally, Rhimes’ age-defying mega hit, Grey’s Anatomy, is still chugging along, entering its 21st season.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2024
Well, after apparently defying one-in-a-thousand odds, three-in-a-hundred sounded alarmingly probable.
—Amanda Montañez, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2024
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2024
Piled atop Bailey's head like a fluffy, fabulous cloud was a gravity-defying beehive made up of voluminous, softly teased swoops of hair.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 2 Oct. 2024
Additionally, Rhimes’ age-defying mega hit, Grey’s Anatomy, is still chugging along, entering its 21st season.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2024
Well, after apparently defying one-in-a-thousand odds, three-in-a-hundred sounded alarmingly probable.
—Amanda Montañez, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defying
Verb
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According to the data, 41% of senior leaders feel guilty for even daring to take a break, compared to 35% of individual contributors.Soulaima Gourani, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
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Phillips and his co-writer Scott Silver have tried to do something daring here, by delivering a somber movie that in no way tries to top its predecessor.Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 4 Oct. 2024
Verb
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His legislative priorities include gun violence prevention, protecting reproductive rights, improving public safety, investing in public education and confronting anti-Asian hatred, according to his campaign website.Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2024
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Start by acknowledging and confronting your own unconscious biases, as these can easily seep into the datasets during data collection and labeling, thereby biasing the AI’s learning process itself.Prajeet Gadekar, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Key Background Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 after resisting calls from within his own party for weeks to end his reelection bid in the wake of his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate.Sara Dorn, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
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In July, a 17-year-old girl was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with a law enforcement investigation.ProPublica, ProPublica, 3 Oct. 2024
Verb
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But all of them offer political ammunition to Republicans trying to cast the vice president as part of a failed administration that has left American consumers hobbled by years of high prices (while conveniently ignoring three-plus years of relentless job growth and consumer spending).Allison Morrow, CNN, 3 Oct. 2024
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Unless investors have specifically allocated their money toward funds dedicated toward slashing emissions, ignoring crucial financial performance metrics violates the fiduciary responsibility of institutional investors.Wayne Winegarden, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Erik Olsen, Republican Olsen is a Madison Republican challenging Pocan in the safely Democratic district for the second consecutive cycle.Journal Sentinel, Journal Sentinel, 4 Oct. 2024
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Supply chains are challenging to navigate.Jim Pursley, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Verb
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In addition to facing fairly limited competition, State Street tends to benefit from the fact that switching costs are fairly high for clients.GuruFocus, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
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Floodwaters and mudslides almost entirely wiped out some communities such as Asheville, North Carolina, where residents have remained without electricity and cell service while facing water, gas and food shortages.Peter Aitken, Fox News, 4 Oct. 2024
Verb
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By contrast, a PAC opposing the proposition had raised just shy of a million dollars.Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2024
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Nationwide, more factions are forming within the Republican Party because of internal tensions between opposing ideologies, said Dave Hopkins, a political science professor at Boston College.Hannah Pinski, The Courier-Journal, 4 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Defying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defying. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
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