defy
pronunciation
How to pronounce defy in British English:
UK [dɪˈfaɪ]
How to pronounce defy in American English:
US [dɪˈfaɪ]
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- Verb:
- resist or confront with resistance
- elude, especially in a baffling way
- challenge
Word Origin
- defy
- defy: [14] The underlying notion of defy is of the renunciation of allegiance. It comes via Old French defier from a Vulgar Latin *disfidāre ‘renounce one’s faith’, a compound verb formed from the prefix dis-, denoting reversal, and Latin fīdus ‘trusting’. This adjective came from a lengthened variant of the stem which produced fidēs ‘faith’, source of English faith.The word’s current main sense represents a slight shift from ‘being disloyal’ to actively ‘challenging someone’s power’. The verb’s noun derivative defiance [14], borrowed from Old French, has a first cousin in diffidence [15], originally ‘distrustfulness’, which came from the classical Latin compound verb diffidere ‘mistrust’.=> diffidence, faith
- defy (v.)
- c. 1300, "to renounce one's allegiance;" mid-14c., "to challenge, defy," from Old French defier, desfier "to challenge, defy, provoke; renounce (a belief), repudiate (a vow, etc.)," from Vulgar Latin *disfidare "renounce one's faith," from Latin dis- "away" (see dis-) + fidus "faithful," from the same root as fides "faith" (see faith).
Example
- 1. But sooner or later the centime will drop . You cannot defy economics for long .
- 2. Those who defy unions do so at their peril .
- 3. The firm will continue to lobby lawmakers to pass laws penalising countries that defy american court judgments .
- 4. You cannot defy economics for long .
- 5. A growing but still small contingent of greeks wants to defy the eu 's treaties and quit the euro altogether .