His excessive defensiveness and avoidance of direct questions suggest an attempt to hide the truth.
Source: tatoeba (12135168)
Defensiveness
Synonyms for "defensiveness" (14 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (3)
Noun(3 words)
Strong matches (4)
Noun(3 words)
Verb(1 words)
Related words (7)
Noun(7 words)
learning barrierrationalizing responsereflexive denialself-defenseself-preservationself-protectionstatus protection
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
8 entriescommunication behavioremotional stateinterpersonal behaviororganizational behaviorpsychological statesensitivenesssensitivitysocial psychology construct
More specific
6 entriesdefensive attributiondefensive posturedefensive routineemotional defensivenesspost-feedback resistanceverbal defensiveness
Collocations
6 entriesdefensive posturedefensive reactionemotional defensivenessguardednessself-protective stanceverbal defensiveness
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
3 entriesSample sentences
2 total sentences available.
The gay vs. straight confrontation has been dealt with before in movies and plays but never with the gay character in control and never so free of defensiveness or homosexual guilt.
Source: wiktionary