defiant

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /dɪˈfaɪənt/ UK /dɪˈfaɪənt/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
boldly resistant to authority or opposition

She gave a defiant stare and refused to move.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · boldly resistant to... rebellious insubordinate disobedient unyielding resistant contumacious recalcitrant bold

Opposites

obedient submissive compliant docile deferential

Word family

Forms defiantly

Derived forms defiantlydefiance

Related forms defy defiance

Etymology

From French défiant, present participle of défier ('to challenge, defy'), from Old French desfier, from Vulgar Latin *disfidare, from dis- ('away') + fidus ('faithful').

desfier Old French fidus Latin *bʰeydʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# defiant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** dɪˈfaɪənt
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈfaɪənt

## Meanings
1. boldly resistant to authority or opposition

## Examples
- She gave a defiant stare and refused to move.

## Synonyms
- rebellious
- insubordinate
- disobedient
- unyielding
- resistant
- contumacious
- recalcitrant
- bold

## Antonyms
- obedient
- submissive
- compliant
- docile
- deferential

## Derived Forms
- defiantly
- defiance

## Related Forms
- defy
- defiance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: desfier
- Root: fidus
- Root: *bʰeydʰ-

## Etymology
From French défiant, present participle of défier ('to challenge, defy'), from Old French desfier, from Vulgar Latin *disfidare, from dis- ('away') + fidus ('faithful').

## AI Etymology
Defiant is from French défiant, present participle of défier ('to challenge, defy'), from Old French desfier, from Vulgar Latin *disfidare, from dis- ('away') + fidus ('faithful'). Important recorded forms include desfier (Old French), fidus (Latin), and *bʰeydʰ- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers boldly resistant to authority or opposition. The wider family includes derived forms such as defiantly and defiance and related words such as defy and defiance.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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defiant

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