Defensive

//dɪˈfɛn.sɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A means, attitude or position of defense.

    "Such kinds of defensives are really rather protecting the local companies than the consumers."

  2. 2
    an attitude of defensiveness wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Intended for defence; protective.

    "a defensive perimeter"

  2. 2
    Intended to deter attack.

    "a defensive missile system"

  3. 3
    Performed so as to minimise risk.

    "defensive driving"

  4. 4
    Displaying an inordinate sensitivity to criticism or intrusion; oversensitive; thin-skinned.
  5. 5
    Of a bowling or fielding tactic designed to prevent the other side from scoring runs; of a batting tactic designed to prevent being out.
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Pertaining to defense, as opposed to attack.

    "The victim held up his hand to repel the attacker and received a defensive knife wound."

  2. 7
    In a state or posture of defense.

    "[…]Once join'd, the contrary ſhe proves, a thorn Inteſtin, far within defenſive arms[…]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    intended or appropriate for defending against or deterring aggression or attack wordnet
  2. 2
    attempting to justify or defend in speech or writing wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
defendingantiaircraftantisubmarineantitankcoveringcustodial

Example

More examples

"Defensive driving can help you avoid accidents."

Etymology

From Middle French défensif. Morphologically defense + -ive.

Related phrases

defensive backdefensive copydefensive copyingdefensive designdefensive fielddefensive halfbackdefensive indifferencedefensive linedefensive line of scrimmagedefensive linemandefensive medicinedefensive midfielder

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.