[dɪˈfʌɪ], (Verb)

Definitions:
- openly resist or refuse to obey
(e.g: a woman who defies convention)

- appear to be challenging (someone) to do or prove something
(e.g: he glowered at her, defying her to mock him)


Phrases:
- defy the odds

Origin:
Middle English (in the senses ‘renounce an allegiance’ and ‘challenge to combat’): from Old French desfier, based on Latin dis- (expressing reversal) + fidus ‘faithful’