defy

tr.v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.

1. 1. To oppose or resist with boldness and assurance: defied the blockade by sailing straight through it.
   2. To refuse to submit to or cooperate with: defied the court order by leaving the country.
2. To be unaffected by; resist or withstand: “So the plague defied all medicines” (Daniel Defoe).
3. To challenge or dare (someone) to do something: She defied her accusers to prove their charges.

[Middle English defien, from Old French desfier, from Vulgar Latin *disfīdāre : Latin dis-, dis- + Latin fīdus, faithful.]

SYNONYMS  defy, brave, challenge, dare, face. These verbs mean to confront boldly and courageously: an innovator defying tradition; braving all criticism; challenged the opposition to produce proof; daring him to deny the statement; faced her accusers.

verb

1. To confront boldly and courageously: beard, brave, challenge, dare, face, front. Idioms: fly in the face of, snap one's fingers at, stand up to, thumb one's nose at. See resist/yield.
2. To refuse or fail to obey: break, disobey, flout, transgress, violate. Idioms: pay no attention to. See resist/yield.
3. To call on another to do something requiring boldness: challenge, dare. Idioms: throw down the gauntlet. See request.

v

Definition: challenge, frustrate
Antonyms: give in, obey, surrender, yield

---

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 3 meanings:

Meaning #1: resist or confront with resistance
  Synonyms: withstand, hold, hold up

Meaning #2: elude, esp. in a baffling way
  Synonyms: resist, refuse
  Antonym: lend oneself (meaning #1)

Meaning #3: challenge
  Synonym: dare

---

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - trodse, udfordre, unddrage sig, provokere, udæske

idioms:

• defy one's age    trodse sin alder
• defy one's years    trodse sin alder

Nederlands (Dutch)
trotseren, uitdagen, te boven gaan, demonstratief niet gehoorzamen

Français (French)
v. tr. - défier, braver, mettre au défi qn

idioms:

• defy one's age    ne pas faire son âge
• defy one's years    ne pas faire son âge

Deutsch (German)
v. - herausfordern, trotzen

idioms:

• defy one's age    jünger tun/aussehen als seine Jahre
• defy one's years    jünger tun/aussehen als seine Jahre

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - αψηφώ, προκαλώ, αντιστέκομαι σε

idioms:

• defy one's age    αψηφώ την ηλικία μου
• defy one's years    αψηφώ την ηλικία μου

Italiano (Italian)
sfidare

idioms:

• defy one's age/years    sfidare gli anni

Português (Portuguese)
v. - desafiar

idioms:

• defy one's age/years    desafiar a idade

Русский (Russian)
бросать вызов

idioms:

• defy one's age/years    не смотря на старый возраст

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - desafiar, retar, resistir a, contravenir

idioms:

• defy one's age    no aparentar su edad
• defy one's years    no aparentar su edad

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - trotsa, utmana

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
藐视, 使落空, 挑衅

idioms:

• defy one's age    比实际年龄年轻
• defy one's years    比实际年龄年轻

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 藐視, 使落空, 挑釁

idioms:

• defy one's age    比實際年齡年輕
• defy one's years    比實際年齡年輕

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 깔보다, (시도 등을) 꺾다, 시도하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 公然と反抗する, 拒み通す, 許さない, 挑む, 挑戦する, 反抗する, 無視する, 拒む
n. - 挑戦

idioms:

• defy one's age/years    年相応にみえない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يعصي, يتحدى, يعمل شئ مستحيل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮ציפצף על, המרה, זילזל, אתגר, עמד מול‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.