Synonyms for defensive
dɪˈfɛn sɪvde·fen·sive

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. defensive, defensive attitudeadjective

   an attitude of defensiveness (especially in the phrase `on the defensive')

   Synonyms:
   defensive attitude

   Antonyms:
   tip-and-run, unapologetic, predatory, antipersonnel, on the offensive(p), invading, attacking(a), marauding, incursive, hit-and-run, assaultive, offensive, invasive, raiding

2. defensiveadjective

   intended or appropriate for defending against or deterring aggression or attack

   "defensive weapons"; "a defensive stance"

   Synonyms:
   justificative, justificatory

   Antonyms:
   incursive, offensive, antipersonnel, invading, predatory, attacking(a), invasive, tip-and-run, on the offensive(p), assaultive, unapologetic, raiding, hit-and-run, marauding

3. defensive, justificative, justificatoryadjective

   attempting to justify or defend in speech or writing

   Synonyms:
   justificative, vindicatory, justificatory

   Antonyms:
   antipersonnel, offensive, predatory, incursive, on the offensive(p), marauding, invasive, attacking(a), unapologetic, raiding, assaultive, tip-and-run, hit-and-run, invading

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "defensive":

   defense, defence

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How to use defensive in a sentence?

1. Jamie Allen:

   The usual cycle is that investors come along, make recommendations, and the mere fact that it's done publicly often is very off-putting to boards, so their initial reaction is to be very defensive and to react against them, but if the idea is a good one, then quite often the company will start taking them seriously.

2. Keith Kellogg:

   We see NATO as a defensive alliance, Putin sees it as an encroaching offensive alliance.

3. Kyrie Irving:

   We made shots, we made (the Clippers) come into defensive rotations. We made it uncomfortable for DeAndre to come out and guard Kevin when we went small and (James) goes to the four, so it was hard for them to match up with us when we go small like that.

4. Mike Krzyzewski:

   After the first four minutes, we were a different team. We played great basketball tonight, especially on the defensive end, i'm so proud of my guys because they beat a great team.

5. Rodney Hood:

   Trey Lyles was big -- hitting threes, getting to the basket, he created some separation. We're a really good defensive team, so we got some stops when we needed them. It was big for us.