What does DEFENSIVE mean?
Definitions for DEFENSIVE
dɪˈfɛn sɪvde·fen·sive
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word DEFENSIVE.
Princeton's WordNet
defensive, defensive attitudeadjective
an attitude of defensiveness (especially in the phrase `on the defensive')
defensiveadjective
intended or appropriate for defending against or deterring aggression or attack
"defensive weapons"; "a defensive stance"
defensive, justificative, justificatoryadjective
attempting to justify or defend in speech or writing
Wiktionary
defensivenoun
A means, attitude or position of defense.
defensiveadjective
Intended for defence; protective
defensiveadjective
Intended to deter attack
defensiveadjective
Performed so as to minimise risk
defensiveadjective
Displaying an inordinate sensitivity to criticism; compare paranoid
defensiveadjective
Of a bowling or fielding tactic designed to prevent the other side from scoring runs.; of a batting tactic designed to prevent being out.
defensiveadjective
pertaining to defense, as opposed to attack.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Defensiveadjective
Etymology: defensif, Fr. from defendens, Latin.
He would not be persuaded by danger to offer any offence, but only to stand upon the best defensive guard he could. Philip Sidney.
My unpreparedness for war, testifies for me, that I am set on the defensive part. Charles I .
Defensive arms lay by, as useless here,
Where massy balls the neighbouring rocks do tear. Edmund Waller.What stood, recoil’d,
Defensive scarce, or with pale fear surpriz’d,
Fled ignominious. John Milton.Defensivenoun
Etymology: from the adjective.
Wars preventive upon just fears, are true defensives, as well as on actual invasions. Francis Bacon, War with Spain.
His majesty, not at all dismayed, resolved to stand upon the defensive only. Edward Hyde, b. viii.
ChatGPT
defensive
Defensive refers to any action, behavior, state, strategy, or mechanism intended to protect or prevent harm, injury, or attack. It typically involves measures or tactics used to guard against something undesirable or to shield oneself or something else from criticism, damage, or hostility. It can be used in various contexts such as sports, psychology, military, and more.
Webster Dictionary
Defensiveadjective
serving to defend or protect; proper for defense; opposed to offensive; as, defensive armor
Defensiveadjective
carried on by resisting attack or aggression; -- opposed to offensive; as, defensive war
Defensiveadjective
in a state or posture of defense
Defensivenoun
that which defends; a safeguard
Etymology: [Cf. F. dfensif.]
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
defensive
A force is said to be on the defensive, or to assume a defensive attitude, when it takes up a position to receive an attack.
British National Corpus
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'DEFENSIVE' in Adjectives Frequency: #871
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of DEFENSIVE in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of DEFENSIVE in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of DEFENSIVE in a Sentence
We've conducted a series of operations across the full spectrum ; offensive, defensive, [ and ] information operations.
I served on a hospital board that has 55 hospitals around the country. I did my duty well and I made it clear that I was opposed to Obamacare and that it didn't serve the best views of the country. I didn't profit off of it, john's problem is that he embraced Obamacare, thought it was right for Ohio ... he was proud of it before, not sure why he is so defensive of it now.
The Total Return Fund's outperformance came from several areas related to our themes of economic and monetary policy divergence around the world, including a more defensive stance with respect to credit.
It takes away a lot of the talking points of the Republicans -- that the sky is falling ... economically, and (Democrats) are not on the defensive as much as they would have been a year, a year-and-a-half, two years ago.
A lot of people see his scoring prowess, obviously, he can shoot the 3, he can post up, his medium game is the best in the business. But when he came to the Warriors, I was shocked by two things. The biggest thing was just his feel and intelligence on the defensive end of the floor ... and then on top of that, he’s a phenomenal passer.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for DEFENSIVE
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- دفاعيArabic
- защитен, отбранителенBulgarian
- obrannýCzech
- defensivGerman
- αμυντικόςGreek
- defensivoSpanish
- puolustusFinnish
- défensifFrench
- védelmiHungarian
- defensifIndonesian
- difensivaItalian
- 防御的なJapanese
- defensusLatin
- defensiefDutch
- obronnyPolish
- defensivaPortuguese
- defensivăRomanian
- оборонительный, защитныйRussian
- defansifTurkish
- دفاعیUrdu
- phòng ngựVietnamese
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"DEFENSIVE." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/DEFENSIVE>.
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