Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a defiant manner; with defiance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In a defiant manner.
  • adverb Common spellchecker-generated misspelling of definitely

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in a rebellious manner

Etymologies

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Examples

  • My three-year-old raised his chin defiantly and said, No! It was an accident.

    Warner Apologizes for Sterilizations at cvillenews.com 2002

  • "Eee-oo!" she called defiantly, and the gull, after a doubtful glance, went on its way, wondering, no doubt, what kind of a gull this was that behaved in such a peculiar manner.

    The Sea of Adventure Blyton, Enid 1948

  • The girl met McGeorge outside the house; he called defiantly in the face of an unrelenting, outspoken opposition.

    The Best Short Stories of 1919 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story Various 1915

  • Built a decade earlier by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki, she is 390 metres long, painted orange and grey and wears her name defiantly, for she makes little attempt to evoke any of the qualities of grace and beauty for which goddesses are traditionally famed, being instead squat and 80,000 tonnes in weight, with a stern that bulges like an overstuffed cushion and a hold stacked high with more than a thousand variously coloured steel containers full of cargo, whose origins range from the factories of the Kobe corridor to the groves of the Atlas Mountains.

    ‘The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work’ 2009

  • Waving his sword defiantly above his head, Chi-churog, First Rider of the Xi-Murogg, was galloping in pursuit, urging his nervous blindered mount onward while screaming defiance.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

  • "'Jore-e Blur-re, Jore-e Blur-re, willy-nilly, willy-nilly!' he calls defiantly, as if he did not like having to keep quiet all day, and meant to tell his name at last.

    Citizen Bird Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners Elliott Coues 1870

  • It is only the inevitable consequence, only the logical result of the movement that today millions of proletarian women call defiantly and with self-confidence: Let us have suffrage! ...

    ANC Today 2007

  • It is only the inevitable consequence, only the logical result of the movement that today millions of proletarian women call defiantly and with self-confidence: Let us have suffrage! ...

    ANC Today 2007

  • This officer finding himself deserted by his men, waved his sword defiantly over his head and walked away as deliberately as on dress parade, while the sharpshooters were plowing up the dirt all around him, but all failed to bring him down.

    History of Kershaw's Brigade D. Augustus Dickert

  • Carl stuck his head around the corner of the front door, called defiantly, "_Damn_ the other girls!" banged the door to, and we fled.

    An American Idyll The Life of Carleton H. Parker Cornelia Stratton Parker

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