defied
- 1Simple past and past participle of defy.
The protesters defied the curfew and marched through the city center.
He had defied every prediction by finishing the marathon in record time.
Note
One spelling does double duty here, and the y of defy turns to i before -ed. Standing alone, it is the simple past (they defied the order). After have, it forms the perfect (she has defied the odds). Because the challenging and disobeying senses are transitive, it also builds passives: the curfew was defied. In the pattern-breaking sense, a result can be the subject, as in figures that defied expectations.
The curfew was openly defied by thousands of residents.
The results defied every expectation the researchers had.
defied is a form of defy
defy, verb: To openly refuse to obey a person, law, or authority. Full entry
- Spelling
- defy → defied: change y to i, add -ed
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /d/.
Use it in a sentence
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