de·fy
verb/dɪˈfaɪ/
/dɪˈfaɪ/
Word Family
- defy verb
- defiance noun
- defiant adjective
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they defy | /dɪˈfaɪ/ /dɪˈfaɪ/ |
| he / she / it defies | /dɪˈfaɪz/ /dɪˈfaɪz/ |
| past simple defied | /dɪˈfaɪd/ /dɪˈfaɪd/ |
| past participle defied | /dɪˈfaɪd/ /dɪˈfaɪd/ |
| -ing form defying | /dɪˈfaɪɪŋ/ /dɪˈfaɪɪŋ/ |
- defy somebody/something to refuse to obey or show respect for somebody in authority, a law, a rule, etc.
违抗；反抗；蔑视 - I wouldn't have dared to defy my teachers.
我可不敢不听老师的话。 - Hundreds of people today defied the ban on political gatherings.
今天有数百人违抗禁止政治集会的规定。
Extra ExamplesTopics Permission and obligationc1- He is willing to defy his own party.
他自愿违抗自己的党派。 - Journalists were openly defying the authorities.
新闻记者公然藐视当局。 - The protesters continued to defy a court injunction.
抗议者继续藐视法庭的一项禁制令。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- openly
- be prepared to
- be willing to
- continue to
- …
- I wouldn't have dared to defy my teachers.
- defy belief, explanation, description, etc. to be impossible or almost impossible to believe, explain, describe, etc.
不可能，无法（相信、解释、描绘等） - a political move that defies explanation
无法解释的政治举动 - The beauty of the scene defies description.
景色之美简直难以描绘。 - His face was so odd that it defies description.
他的脸长得特别古怪，简直无法描述。
- a political move that defies explanation
- defy something to successfully resist something to a very unusual degree
经受住；顶住；抗住 - The baby boy defied all the odds and survived (= stayed alive when it seemed certain that he would die).
这名男婴九死一生活了下来。
- The baby boy defied all the odds and survived (= stayed alive when it seemed certain that he would die).
Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘renounce an allegiance’ and ‘challenge to combat’): from Old French desfier, based on Latin dis- (expressing reversal) + fidus ‘faithful’.
Idioms
I defy you/anyone to do something
- used to say that somebody should try to do something, as a way of emphasizing that you think it is impossible to do it
激，挑动（某人尽力做你认为不可能的事） - I defy anyone not to cry at the end of the film.
我倒要看看有谁在电影结尾时不哭。 - I defy you to leave without buying something.
我反对你不买东西就走。
- I defy anyone not to cry at the end of the film.