How to use defy in a sentence

Examples of defy by meaning

More sentences with defy

• A group of rebels defied the general's orders and split off from the main army.From the entry rebel
• There are certain things that defy human understanding.From the entry understanding
• The way Green practices witchcraft defies stereotypes of broomstick-wielding, cauldron-toting, pointy-hatted witches.2024 October 26, Scottie Andrew, “Witches walk among us — but they’re not like the fictional ones you grew up with”, in CNN, archived from…. From the entry pagan
• Defying musket and cannon blast, they berserk preemptively against the Tlaxcaltecah.2023, David Bowles, Guadalupe García McCall, Secret of the Moon Conch, Bloomsbury YA, →ISBN. From the entry berserk
• Matters came to a head when the Hydriot Admiral Miaoulis defied the government.2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 108. From the entry Hydriot
• It defies science.” “I love Mom's waffsicles.” “I'll have to take my waffsicles to go.2019 October 13, Holly Schlesinger, “Motor, She Boat” (0:21 from the start), in Bob's Burgers, season 10, episode 3, spoken by Gene…. From the entry waffsicle
• I cannot defy her as long as she is more powerful than me.”2016, May Freighter, Russian Roulette, page 291. From the entry sire
• Jones is a pop-culture phenom whose bold antics, outlandish personality, and dazzling looks defied all norms.2013, Ytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, →ISBN, page 105. From the entry phenom
• Louis's Nelly or Long Beach's Domino toed the line between rapper and singer, defying easy categorization.2012, Dalton Higgins, Far From Over: The Music and Life of Drake, the Unofficial Story, Toronto, O.N.: ECW Press, →ISBN, page 98. From the entry toe the line
• Hescos — antiblast protection consisting of big wire containers of rubble — defy all attempts at decoration.2009 April 26, Rod Nordland, “Iraq’s False Spring”, in New York Times. From the entry antiblast
• It defied every image of a draconian being Kulp had ever seen.2006, Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates, Book Two, →ISBN, page 384. From the entry draconian
• Létourneau's art and music activities sprawl across so many international and interdisciplinary borders that they defy blurbification.2001 September 12, Lee Gardner, “You Can't Tell the Players Without a Program”, in Baltimore City Paper. From the entry blurbification
• We are in the very unsalesmanlike business of defying popular demand.1999, Lee Stringer, Grand Central Winter, page 185. From the entry unsalesmanlike
• The ponymen communicated to each other in a savage, barking tongue that defies translation or transcription.1994 October–December, The Angry Corrie, number 20, page 13. From the entry hellbrew
• In the indomitableness and audacity of his will, he defies not only man but God himself.1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “V. The Seven Against Thebes”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 146. From the entry indomitableness
• If Trump defies the Court here, then America will have taken an important step toward authoritarianism and anti-constitutional government.2025 April 10, Adam Serwer, “The Confrontation Between Trump and the Supreme Court Has Arrived”, in The Atlantic, archived from the…. From the entry authoritarianism
• A blistering start from the Scots served to steady the ship amid a cacophony that defied the quarter-full national stadium.2021 June 14, Scott Mullen, “Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2022. From the entry cacophony
• Musk has spent a lifetime defying the haters; now, it seems, he’s finally in position to put them in their place.December 13 2021, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine, archived from…. From the entry put someone in their place
• Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense.2019 June 1, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine…. From the entry etiolated
• But a plummy-voiced Labour peer, Baron Peter Hain, decided to defy the court order, invoking his parliamentary privilege to identify Mr.2018 October 26, Ellen Barry, Amie Tsang, “London’s King of Retail Fashion, Brought Low by #MeToo”, in New York Times. From the entry plummy
• Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies defy my willpower.2017, Lesley Rotchford, “Making the Change”, in Take It Off! Keep It Off! Real Women Reveal How They Lost the 20, 50, and Even 100…. From the entry graham-crackery
• For reasons that defy explanation, they're PUNS.2013, Rita Harris, Heather Harwood, Your Guide to Spotting and Outing Bloodsuckers at Work, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 4. From the entry vampireyness
• Valdensian communities took to the mountains of Savoy, and would defy the authorities in the best Burgundian manner for centuries.2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 126. From the entry Waldensian
• “That's what this moron did,” Louise McKay shouted, glaring at Abbie and me as though to defy us to question her.2011, Donald E. Westlake, Somebody Owes Me Money, →ISBN. From the entry shlemozzle
• In the Whedonverse, who is willing and able to become a hero often defies two-dimensional thinking or traditional expectations.2010, Lynnette Porter, Tarnished Heroes, Charming Villains, and Modern Monsters: Science Fiction in Shades of Gray in 21st Century…. From the entry Whedonverse
• Here, too, Villon is the general trickster, endearing in a renardine way, since he always defies the established order.1999, Paul Franssen, A. J. Hoenselaars, The Author as Character, page 68. From the entry renardine
• The universalists place the active nodes of linguistic life—the deep structures—so deep as to defy observation and description.1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 276. From the entry universalist
• Bennett has ducked out of funerals, bolted from hospital beds and defied snowstorms to get to the House chamber.1991 June 8, Richard Berke, “Sizzling 40-Year Streak Of Never Missing a Vote”, in New York Times, retrieved 26 Nov 2010. From the entry duck out
• Say, there's nothing more wonderful than defying middle-class conventions.1951, The Georgia review, volume 5, University of Georgia, page 150. From the entry babbitt
• Off in his Green Mountains, Ethan Allen revowed his willingness to defy and make war on the universal earth.1949, Charles O'Neill, Morning Time: A Novel. From the entry revow
• Ousley, defying the Greek-letter Hellenical banqueters at Dal.1914 March 1, “WK’s WINDJAMMING”, in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, volume XXXIII, number 46, Fort Worth, Tex., page eight. From the entry Hellenical
• Ricks defied the allegation, but he couldn't deny the alligators.1904, O. Henry, The Gentle Grafter. From the entry feetwear
• If Trump defies the Court, there is little to restrain him from acting as an autocrat, given the supplication of Republicans in Congress.2025 April 10, Adam Serwer, “The Confrontation Between Trump and the Supreme Court Has Arrived”, in The Atlantic, archived from the…. From the entry autocrat
• The lone "nay" came from the Republican lawmaker from Louisiana, Clay Higgins, who defied his party saying his vote was a principled "NO".2025 November 18, Brandon Drenon, “The only 'no' vote on releasing Epstein files”, in BBC. From the entry clay
• He defined it not as resentment of what is different, which is xenophobia, but rather of what defies order and clear categories.2020 January 28, Mairov Zonszein, “Christian Zionist philo-Semitism is driving Trump’s Israel policy”, in The Washington Post, archived…. From the entry ambivalent
• Defying this, Western queer culture actively defuses from cisnormative values, yet in so doing may also fuse with their new, queernormative value constructs.2020, Alex Stitt, ACT for Gender Identity: The Comprehensive Guide, page 202. From the entry actively

Meaning of defy

1. verb To challenge (someone) or brave (a hazard or opposition).
2. verb To refuse to obey.
3. verb To not conform to or follow a pattern, set of rules or expectations.

Full definition of defy

More about defy

• Meaning of defy
• Past tense of defy
• Defy in Tamil
• Defy in Urdu
• Defy in Bengali
• Defy in Malayalam

Questions about defy in a sentence

How do you use defy in a sentence?

Defy is used as a verb and noun. For example: “If you defy your teacher you may end up in detention.”

What is a short sentence with defy?

“For reasons that defy explanation, they're PUNS.”

What does defy mean?

Defy means to challenge (someone) or brave (a hazard or opposition).