What does defy mean?
To defy is to openly and often boldly refuse to obey or yield to something: an authority, a law, an expectation, or even physical possibility. A citizen may defy an unjust regulation; a child may defy parental rules; an athlete may defy the odds. The word carries strong connotations of courage, willfulness, and confrontation — those who defy are rarely passive, and the act itself invites notice or consequence. Defy also has a figurative sense in which something resists explanation or description altogether, as when a landscape's beauty defies words or a result defies belief. Derived forms include defiant, describing an attitude of open resistance, and defiance, the noun for the act itself. Rooted in Latin through Old French, defy has carried its spirit of bold opposition into English since the Middle Ages, making it one of the language's most evocative verbs for standing firm against power.
To openly refuse to obey or submit to an authority, law, or person; to resist boldly.
"The workers defied management by continuing the strike."
Transitive; always takes a direct object.
To be impossible to describe, explain, or believe.
"Her generosity defies explanation."
Defy comes from the Latin for 'to trust against' — ancient Romans trusted so little in rebels that defiance itself meant placing your faith in your own side of a fight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of defy
Defy entered English in the Middle Ages from Old French desfier, meaning to renounce allegiance or challenge, which derives from Late Latin disfidare — literally 'to distrust' or 'to break faith' — formed from the prefix dis- ('apart') plus fidare ('to trust'), from fides ('faith'). Its original medieval sense involved formally declaring oneself without faith or loyalty toward an opponent, effectively issuing a challenge. Cognates sharing the Latin root include confidence, confide, and fidelity.
Related word forms
How defy is actually used
Defy carries a connotation of boldness or courage, often admiring but sometimes disapproving. The figurative sense 'defy description/belief' is common in formal writing. It is transitive and always takes a direct object.
Easily confused with defy
Deify means to worship or treat someone as a god, while defy means to openly refuse obedience — a single letter changes rebellion into reverence.