How to Use defy in a Sentence

defy

verb
  • She defied her parents and dropped out of school.
  • The group has continued to defy all efforts to stop them.
  • To me, that seemed to defy common sense.
    — Jeri Clausing, AFAR Media, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Flaco defied the odds to live free for roughly a year.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 27 May 2026
  • Hannah Nabors has defied the odds a few times in her life.
    — Monique John, CBS News, 3 June 2026
  • Caleb Williams has been defying his doubters all year.
    — Hank Gola, New York Daily News, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Laura Dern has long defied that fate.
    — Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025
  • At least four gents defied the small Cartier trend, though.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 18 Oct. 2025
  • And there are no players to defy it anymore.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 30 Aug. 2025
  • This show is somehow defying the laws of physics.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
  • This show is somehow defying the laws of physics.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Head to Amazon to add the age-defying serum to your cart.
    — Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 24 June 2026
  • Rear-axle steering sharpens a car this size in ways that defy its footprint.
    — Sean Evans, Robb Report, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Her mother added that Millie has defied so many odds.
    — Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026
  • But despite the low survival rate, Kaya's pup defied all odds.
    — Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
  • But how do eels defy paralysis?
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 Sep. 2025
  • This is the second recent case that defies sound judgment.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2026
  • For many, summer fun means thrill rides rule that soar, swirl, and defy gravity.
    — Roxana Saberi, CBS News, 2 July 2023
  • Maybe after one of this week’s three training runs, Vonn’s knee will defy her.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Two years on, Stinson is defying the odds.
    — Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 12 May 2026
  • But there are people who are defying that comfort.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 6 Jan. 2026
  • The shift was apparent to the genre-defying band.
    — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2025
  • The finding is part of a trend that defies the norm in biology.
    — Anna Demming, Quanta Magazine, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The next few weeks will signal whether Vance and Rubio can defy the odds.
    — Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 27 June 2026
  • Their campaign for the playoffs will be the talk of the town, defying polls and pundits alike!
    — Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
  • But van der Gucht and his team found that compleximers completely defy this law.
    — Rohini Subrahmanyam, Scientific American, 13 Apr. 2026
  • But Ottawa has high-end talent, too, and has already defied the odds twice this year.
    — Hailey Salvian, New York Times, 14 May 2026
  • The 39-year-old continues to defy time in every sense of the word.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • The Beatles have defied that norm.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Of course, defying Iran’s attempt to claim of sovereignty over the strait comes with risks.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 30 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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