What does resistance mean?
Resistance is the refusal to submit to force, authority, influence, or change. In everyday use, it describes a person's or group's opposition to a decision, law, policy, or proposal, and it may be peaceful, organized, or openly defiant. The word can also refer to the opposition offered by a material or organism to heat, electricity, disease, or damage. In physics and engineering, resistance measures how strongly something impedes motion or the flow of energy, while in biology it describes an organism's ability to withstand infection or harmful influence. Resistance is common in discussions of politics, public opinion, health, and technology. Its related forms, resist and resistant, highlight different aspects of the same idea: resist describes an action, while resistant describes a capacity or tendency to withstand opposition.
nounResistance is opposition to force, control, influence, or change, especially a deliberate refusal to comply or yield. In technical contexts, it denotes the opposition offered to motion, electrical current, disease, or another physical process.
- Deliberate opposition or refusal to comply with authority, control, or an unwanted course of action.
- An organized political or social effort to oppose or change a government, policy, or power.
- Physical opposition to motion, flow, heat, electricity, or another process.
- The ability of an organism or material to withstand disease, damage, or external influence.
- A source or form of opposition that hinders movement, progress, or change.
"The proposal met strong resistance from residents who were concerned about traffic and privacy."
"Resistance to the new policy grew as people became more concerned about its effects."
"The material has a high resistance to heat and electrical current."
The plural is less common and usually denotes multiple acts, sources, or kinds of resistance.
"The novel explores the different resistances that shape a community's identity."
Resistance comes from the Latin for standing back: refusing to be pushed, persuaded, or overcome.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does resistance come from?
The word entered English in the Middle English period through Old French resistance, which was borrowed from Latin resistantia, a noun meaning “act of resisting.” Latin resistentia developed from resistere, literally “to stand back,” from re- meaning “back” and sistere meaning “stand.” Related forms include resist, resistant, and resistive.
Related word forms
How resistance is actually used
Resistance is generally neutral in tone, though it can convey active opposition in social and political contexts. In physics, biology, and engineering, it is a technical term with specialized meanings.
Easily confused with resistance
Resistance is a noun naming opposition or refusal, whereas resistant is an adjective describing something able to withstand or oppose a force, influence, or condition.