defiance
/dɪˈfaɪ(j)əns/noun
defiance is spelled D-E-F-I-A-N-C-E. The wrong spelling people search most is definance: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 85 of all searches for the word. Defiance is a noun meaning “The feeling, or spirit of being defiant”. The plural of defiance is defiances.
How many letters and syllables are in defiance?
| Letters | 8: D-E-F-I-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, definance, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell defiance?
Defiance is spelled D-E-F-I-A-N-C-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 86 of the searches for defiance in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is defiance?
Defiance appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce defiance?
- UK /dɪˈfaɪ(j)əns/
Defiance has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-defiance.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with defiance?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as defiance from its last stressed vowel (/aɪəns/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of defiance
- defiances plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does defiance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The feeling, or spirit of being defiant.
- 2
Open or bold resistance to or disregard for authority, opposition, or power; refusing to give up.
- 3
A challenging attitude or behaviour; challenge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Defiance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | défi |
| German | Trotz, Auflehnung, Widerstand , offener Ungehorsam, Widersetzung , anstrengendes Verhalten |
| Portuguese | desafio |
| Spanish | desafío, desafiamiento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does defiance come from?
From Middle English defiaunce, from Old French desfiance, from desfier. By surface analysis, defy + -ance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).