defy
Refuse to obey
Defy means to resist or refuse to submit to authority, rules, or expectations.
A teenager defies a curfew; a nation defies international sanctions.
To defy also means to challenge someone to do something: I defy you to find a better price.
Things that defy explanation or logic resist being understood or categorized.
What defies gravity seems to float impossibly.
Remain intact despite pressure
- opposeAct against something
- challengeTest of ability
- confrontFace squarely, address directly
- fightPhysical or verbal conflict
stand against · combat · contest · counteract · thwart · obstruct · block · brave
Fearless readiness to act
- audacityBrazen, reckless daring
- daringAdventurous courage
- fearlessnessComplete lack of dread
- braveryBoldness before danger
valor · intrepidity · nerve · guts · pluck · mettle · grit · tenacity
Defying workplace authority
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- mutinyRevolt against authority
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
insurrection · sedition · dissent · resistance · noncompliance · contravention · subversion · insurgence
Likelihood expressed numerically
- expectationsBeliefs about future outcomes
- logicScience of valid reasoning
- gravityMutual mass attraction
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
norms · limitations · boundaries · fate · death · age · nature · prediction
One who revolts
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- mutineerSailor who revolts
- nonconformistRejects prevailing social standards
iconoclast · renegade · protester · activist · maverick · contrarian · agitator · insurrectionist
withstand
Remain intact despite pressure
stand against · fight · combat · contest · counteract · thwart · obstruct · block · brave · face down
boldness
Fearless readiness to act
- audacityBrazen, reckless daring
- daringAdventurous courage
- fearlessnessComplete lack of dread
bravery · valor · intrepidity · nerve · guts · pluck · mettle · grit · tenacity · fortitude
insubordination
Defying workplace authority
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- mutinyRevolt against authority
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
uprising · insurrection · sedition · dissent · resistance · noncompliance · contravention · subversion · insurgence · revolution
odds
Likelihood expressed numerically
- expectationsBeliefs about future outcomes
- logicScience of valid reasoning
- gravityMutual mass attraction
convention · norms · limitations · boundaries · fate · death · age · nature · prediction · probability
insurgent
One who revolts
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- mutineerSailor who revolts
nonconformist · iconoclast · renegade · protester · activist · maverick · contrarian · agitator · insurrectionist · heretic
- defiancedisobedience, insubordination, noncompliance, rebellion, disobey
- resistanceresistance, resistance fighters, civil resistance, resist, dissidence
- Stand Upstand firm, stand ground, make a stand, hold firm, face up to
- opposeoppose, resist, reject, refuse, fight
- resistresist, oppose, rebuff, refuse, reject
- fightsfight, brawl, scuffle, scrap, tussle
- acts of defiance
- defying gravityOvercoming downward force
- death defyingRisking life itself
- death-defying acts
- defy oddsSucceed despite improbability
- defying expectationsActing against predictions
defiant, defiance, defying, defied, defies, defiantly, defier, defiers