Meaning of "defies" in the English dictionary

PRONUNCIATION OF DEFIES

defies

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DEFIES

Defies is a verb.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb defies in English.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO DEFIES

PRESENT

Present

I defy

you defy

he/she/it defies

we defy

you defy

they defy

Present continuous

I am defying

you are defying

he/she/it is defying

we are defying

you are defying

they are defying

Present perfect

I have defied

you have defied

he/she/it has defied

we have defied

you have defied

they have defied

Present perfect continuous

I have been defying

you have been defying

he/she/it has been defying

we have been defying

you have been defying

they have been defying

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I defied

you defied

he/she/it defied

we defied

you defied

they defied

Past continuous

I was defying

you were defying

he/she/it was defying

we were defying

you were defying

they were defying

Past perfect

I had defied

you had defied

he/she/it had defied

we had defied

you had defied

they had defied

Past perfect continuous

I had been defying

you had been defying

he/she/it had been defying

we had been defying

you had been defying

they had been defying

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will defy

you will defy

he/she/it will defy

we will defy

you will defy

they will defy

Future continuous

I will be defying

you will be defying

he/she/it will be defying

we will be defying

you will be defying

they will be defying

Future perfect

I will have defied

you will have defied

he/she/it will have defied

we will have defied

you will have defied

they will have defied

Future perfect continuous

I will have been defying

you will have been defying

he/she/it will have been defying

we will have been defying

you will have been defying

they will have been defying

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would defies

you would defies

he/she/it would defies

we would defies

you would defies

they would defies

Conditional continuous

I would be defying

you would be defying

he/she/it would be defying

we would be defying

you would be defying

they would be defying

Conditional perfect

I would have defies

you would have defies

he/she/it would have defies

we would have defies

you would have defies

they would have defies

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been defying

you would have been defying

he/she/it would have been defying

we would have been defying

you would have been defying

they would have been defying

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you defy
we let´s defy
you defy

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to defy

Past participle

defied

Present Participle

defying

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «DEFIES»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «defies» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of defies

baffle · beard · brave · call someone´s bluff · challenge · confound · confront · contemn · dare · defeat · disobey · disregard · elude · escape · face · flout · foil · frustrate · oppose · provoke · resist · spurn · stand up to · throw down the gauntlet · thwart

TRANSLATION OF DEFIES

Find out the translation of defies to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of defies from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «defies» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 无视
• Translator English - Spanish: desafía
• English: defies
• Translator English - Hindi: खारिज कर देता
• Translator English - Arabic: يتحدى
• Translator English - Russian: бросает вызов
• Translator English - Portuguese: desafia
• Translator English - Bengali: উপেক্ষা করে
• Translator English - French: défie
• Translator English - Malay: Menentang
• Translator English - German: trotzt
• Translator English - Japanese: 挑む
• Translator English - Korean: 아무리
• Translator English - Javanese: Defies
• Translator English - Vietnamese: bất chấp
• Translator English - Tamil: பொருந்தாத்
• Translator English - Marathi: Defies
• Translator English - Turkish: meydan okuyan
• Translator English - Italian: sfida
• Translator English - Polish: przeczy
• Translator English - Ukrainian: кидає виклик
• Translator English - Romanian: sfidează
• Translator English - Greek: αψηφά
• Translator English - Afrikaans: tart
• Translator English - Swedish: trotsar
• Translator English - Norwegian: trosser

10 QUOTES WITH «DEFIES»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word defies.

1

B. R. Ambedkar

Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government.

2

Daniel Bell

But in action, one defies one's character.

3

Dave Eggers

But Saudi Arabia is surprising in a lot of ways. Like any place, or any people, it relentlessly defies easy categorization.

4

Robert Green Ingersoll

When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death - that is heroism.

5

Wally Lamb

I like to be surprised. The best writing is when it defies me, when it starts going a different way than I had planned.

6

Alice Lowe

I think 'Sightseers' was a bit of an epiphany, a massive learning curve, and it gave me loads of confidence to go out there, and also to create a female character which is completely unexpected and defies convention.

7

Carolyn McCarthy

It defies common sense that stores are fined for selling toy guns to children, but someone who isn't even allowed to board an airplane in this country can purchase as many real guns he wants with no questions asked.

8

Anthony Minghella

I work fitfully, in hope rather than in expectation, invent methods which last a week, and fill notebooks with tiny, illegible writing which often defies my own attempts to decipher it.

9

Jeremy Rifkin

It may be that everything the life science companies are telling us will turn out to be right, and there's no problem here whatsoever. That defies logic.

10

Robert Taft

It defies all common sense to send that roughneck ward politician back to the White House.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DEFIES»

Discover the use of defies in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to defies and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Lady Vivian Defies a Duke

When Luke, the newly named Duke of Foxhaven, discovers that his bride-to-be is an opinionated headstrong beauty, he decides to find her another husband until he discovers that he cannot imagine her in anyone else's arms but his. Original.

Samantha Grace, 2013

Biggles Defies the Swastika

'Suffering rattlesnakes!

W E Johns, 2012

In My Father's Country: An Afghan Woman Defies Her Fate

From the Hardcover edition.

SAIMA WAHAB, 2012

Abbie Defies Demons

A captivating story of a little village girl named Abigail, whose childhood dreams of becoming a diplomat came to fulfillment.

Yinka Amuda, 2012

The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human Brain Defies ...

A respected journalist explores the fields of science that try to explain the mysteries of the human mind, arguing that science has done little to plumb the depths of our minds and cannot ever rationally explain all of human behavior. 50 ...

John Horgan, 2000

Inside Poop: America's leading colon therapist defies ...

"This book kept me reading all night.

Scott W. Webb, 2010

Biggles WWII Collection: Biggles Defies the Swastika, ...

Biggles is back!

W E Johns, 2012

The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West

Yet, countries have repeatedly tried diplomatic talks and utterly failed. In The Rise of Nuclear Iran, Gold examines these past failures, showing how Iran employed strategic deception and delay tactics to hide its intentions from the West.

Dore Gold, 2009

An X-linked Imprinted Cluster Defies the Classical ...

Genomic imprinting is characterized by allele-specific gene expression that is dependent on parental origin.

Benjamin R. Carone, 2008

Peace That Defies Pain

Max Lucado reminds us that even in pain God is near. He wants us to grasp the peace that defies pain. He wants to be with us, facing pain with his holy joy. This booklet points the way to this defiant peace.

Max Lucado, Max Lucado, B.A., M.A., 1995

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DEFIES»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term defies is used in the context of the following news items.

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini defies weight critics and wears tiny crop …

And today Cheryl Fernandez-Versini defied the weight commentators once again by wearing a tummy baring crop top to the first day of X Factor ... «Mirror.co.uk, Jul 15»

Golf: David Gibson defies pain to defend county crown

History-maker David Gibson will defend his County Championship crown at Kirby Muxloe on Sunday. The Cosby man won the title for a record ... «Leicester Mercury, Jul 15»

OK Gov. Defies State Supreme Court: 10 Commandments …

One governor is showing the way to stand up to anti-Judeo-Christian secularists assaulting Biblical values. On Tuesday, Oklahoma Governor ... «Breitbart News, Jul 15»

Mum defies bag snatcher outside The Scrap Store in Hull

A MOTHER and her nine-year-old daughter were involved in a dramatic confrontation when a would-be thief tried to steal her bag. «Hull Daily Mail, Jul 15»

City Council defies expectations and keeps AEDC Board

AMARILLO, TX -- Tonight, we're learning more about a dramatic change of events at today's Amarillo city council meeting. It was widely ... «ConnectAmarillo.com powered by KVII, Jul 15»

The BBC deal almost defies belief

It almost defies belief that the Government, this time without any Lib-Dem brake to apply, should impose such a deal for the second time in five ... «MediaTel Newsline, Jul 15»

11-year-old girl defies the odds as one-handed baseball pitcher

11-year-old girl defies the odds as one-handed baseball pitcher. NBC News ... 11-year-old girl defies the odds as one-handed baseball pitcher. «KSHB, Jul 15»

Florida County Defies Ban, Raises Confederate Flag

The Confederate flag is coming back to Marion County, Florida–after officials voted unanimously to bring it back to their county's government ... «Liberty News Now, Jul 15»

CDO defies the odds to win District 5 title

Nothing about the CDO Little League's District 5 10-11 baseball All-Star championship was easy. CDO not only had to beat Oro Valley twice but ... «Tucson Local Media, Jul 15»

PEASE: The Supreme Court defies the Constitution on Same-Sex …

The outcry against five justices who, abandoned Christian law as articulated in the Bible (the judaeo-christian code was the basis of the ... «Your Houston News, Jul 15»