From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdefiancede‧fi‧ance /dɪˈfaɪəns/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] DISOBEYbehaviour that shows you refuse to do what someone tells you to do, especially because you do not respect them → defyact/gesture of defiance Running away was an act of defiance against his parents.in defiance (of something) Many people were drinking in the streets, in flagrant defiance of the ban. Her fists clenched in defiance.
Examples from the Corpus
defiance• a look of hatred and defiance• Now that Luke no longer wanted her, he wouldn't care about anything she did, so no action of hers constituted defiance.• He is fighting for a second term and claims the support of other key nations in defiance of the Clinton administration.• Lee saw Anthea's eyes glittering blackly in the dancing candlelight, her chin drawn up in defiance or outrage.• That act of defiance warmed her even now, just thinking of it.• I had gone against their wishes in a public expression of defiance.• She tries to work up a kind of defiance, an attitude.• Over time, the AK-47 rose above its use as a weapon to become a symbol of defiance and liberation.act/gesture of defiance• An act of defiance it had been, and look where it had got her.• An act of defiance, in Zacco's terms.• In one of his few acts of defiance, Presley opted for tight black leather, rock classics and his old band.• In those circumstances, voting to strike may be a final gesture of defiance.• Many point to her act of defiance as the birth of the civil-rights movement.• Given the power of the managerial hierarchy to dispense or withhold rewards, open acts of defiance expose individuals to reprisal.• That act of defiance warmed her even now, just thinking of it.• Many of these acts of defiance are lost to us, as those women and their yearnings have been lost. 