- 1defy somebody/something to refuse to obey or show respect for someone in authority, a law, a rule, etc. I wouldn't have dared to defy my teachers. Hundreds of people today defied the ban on political gatherings.
- 2defy belief, explanation, description, etc. to be impossible or almost impossible to believe, explain, describe, etc. a political move that defies explanation The beauty of the scene defies description.
- 3defy something to successfully resist something to a very unusual degree The baby boy defied all the odds and survived (= stayed alive when it seemed certain that he would die). defy verbdefiance noundefiant adjectivedefy verbdefiance noundefiant adjectiveIdioms
defy
verbNAmE//dɪˈfaɪ//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they defy he / she / it defies
past simple defied
-ing form defying
used to say that someone should try to do something, as a way of emphasizing that you think it is impossible to do it I defy anyone not to cry at the end of the movie. I defy you to leave without buying something.
Check pronunciation: defy