---
title: defiance — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «defiance» in the school dictionary: Defiance is bold refusal to obey, or open resistance to someone in power. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defiance/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [D](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/) / defiance

# defiance

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Defiance, look, you, child, She, He · **What happens:** be, obey, show, not give in, stand up, give · **To what, where:** bold refusal, look, teacher, room · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«defiance» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [defiance in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/defiance.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Defiance is bold refusal to obey, or open resistance to someone in power.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defiance:m1:1
# text = Defiance is bold refusal to obey, or open resistance to someone in power.
1	Defiance	defiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	bold	bold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	refusal	refusal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	resistance	resistance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Defiance | bold refusal or open resistance to someone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **obey** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A look of defiance shows you will not give in.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defiance:m2:1
# text = A look of defiance shows you will not give in.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	look	look	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	defiance	defiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a look of defiance |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **give in** | future | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child stood up to the bully in defiance.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defiance:x1:1
# text = The child stood up to the bully in defiance.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bully	bully	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	defiance	defiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand up** | past | the child |  |  |  |  | to the bully in defiance | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She gave her teacher a look of defiance.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defiance:x2:1
# text = She gave her teacher a look of defiance.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	iobj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	look	look	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	defiance	defiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | She | a look of defiance | her teacher |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent teacher=Recipient look=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He refused to tidy his room, in open defiance of Mum.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:defiance:x3:1
# text = He refused to tidy his room, in open defiance of Mum.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	tidy	tidy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	defiance	defiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **tidy** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | his room |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [deferral](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/deferral/)
- next →: [defiant](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defiant/)
- ↑ back to [D in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/)