What's the difference between defy and deny?

Defy


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce.
  • (v. t.) To provoke to combat or strife; to call out to combat; to challenge; to dare; to brave; to set at defiance; to treat with contempt; as, to defy an enemy; to defy the power of a magistrate; to defy the arguments of an opponent; to defy public opinion.
  • (n.) A challenge.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) For his lone, perilous journey that defied the US occupation authorities, Burchett was pilloried, not least by his embedded colleagues.
  • (2) "We have Revolutionary Guards who defied orders, though they were severely punished, expelled from the force and taken to prison," he says.
  • (3) He said his party was determined to go ahead with the poll, even if it meant defying Spain's constitutional court, which Rull dismissed as biased.
  • (4) When several of its semi-autonomous cars were caught running red lights, the state ordered their removal from the road – an order Uber openly defied , blaming the traffic light violations on “human error” and suspending the people monitoring the cars.
  • (5) Speaker Paul Ryan and majority leader Kevin McCarthy, the two top House Republicans, had argued in Monday’s meeting – held with no prior notice – against making the unilateral ethics change, calling for a bipartisan approach at a later date, but rank-and-file Republicans defied their leadership.
  • (6) Heidi Allen, the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, abstained in last week’s vote but said she and others would defy the party whip if concessions were not offered.
  • (7) Barack Obama has defied a Republican Congress to move ahead on his climate agenda on Wednesday, cracking down on methane emissions from America’s oil and natural gas boom.
  • (8) The home secretary, Theresa May , has defied her own expert advisers and banned qat, a mild herbal stimulant that is traditionally used by Britain's Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.
  • (9) No call for the resurrection of the proud, shared traditions of Scots, Welsh and English people as they defied the powerful to build a better society; no convincing pledge that a new Britain would be forged, just and equal and fair unlike what New Labour failed to deliver.
  • (10) Some samples with complex patterns defied classification, and it is speculated that these may be from persons with duplicated C7 genes.
  • (11) Sales on the high street were much higher than expected this month, rising at their fastest rate in six years as consumers defied the gloomy economic outlook.
  • (12) But the instruction issued by the party headquarters in Paris was defied by the Socialist candidate in the Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine region, who came third but announced he would stand for the second round anyway.
  • (13) This was the childhood playground of actor Richard Harris, where he performed death-defying handstands and cycling tricks on the cliffside walls when not showboating by the sea.
  • (14) Just as no single description is universally applicable to the mode of action of vitamin A derivatives, so too do their toxic effects defy generalization.
  • (15) He has been held without charges since his arrest on 5 June but has been informed that under martial law he faces up to 14 years in prison on possible charges of inciting unrest, violating cyber laws and defying the junta's orders.
  • (16) Writers should be making more of an effort to write interesting parts for actors of colour that defy stereotypes, or implementing a Geena Davis type solution (simply change any character in a script into a woman) for race.
  • (17) It defies the logic of personal ambition that grows stronger with proximity to the biggest job in the world.
  • (18) It was so I could tell Jeremy that I had backed him.” Corbyn has defied not only Fletcher’s expectations but everyone else’s.
  • (19) But, since then, it has fallen to around $1,660 (£1,047) defying predictions – and the hopes of speculators – that it would continue to hit new peaks during the ongoing financial turmoil.
  • (20) For the last five months, he has enjoyed unprecedented political dominance, after an election where the SNP defied the logic of Holyrood's semi-proportional system by winning an absolute majority, sweeping into power with nearly 50% of the vote.

Deny


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To declare not to be true; to gainsay; to contradict; -- opposed to affirm, allow, or admit.
  • (v. t.) To refuse (to do something or to accept something); to reject; to decline; to renounce.
  • (v. t.) To refuse to grant; to withhold; to refuse to gratify or yield to; as, to deny a request.
  • (v. t.) To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, and the like; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
  • (v. i.) To answer in /// negative; to declare an assertion not to be true.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) He still denied it and said he was giving the girl a lift.
  • (2) The highest rate of discontinuation occurred when method choice was denied in the presence of husband-wife agreement on method choice, and the lowest rate occurred when method choice was granted in the presence of such concurrence.
  • (3) It was with unanimous consent.” He denied that Trump’s tweets had played a part, saying: “No, no, no.
  • (4) The White House denied there had been an agreement, but said it was open in principle to such negotations.
  • (5) Keep it in the ground campaign Though they draw on completely different archives, leaked documents, and interviews with ex-employees, they reach the same damning conclusion: Exxon knew all that there was to know about climate change decades ago, and instead of alerting the rest of us denied the science and obstructed the politics of global warming.
  • (6) Greek officials categorically denied the report with many describing it as a "joke".
  • (7) In practice they are so elastic that they have been used to deny pasta to besieged Gazans.
  • (8) It felt like my very existence was being denied,” said Hahn Chae-yoon, executive director of Beyond the Rainbow Foundation.
  • (9) The government has blamed a clumsily worded press release for the furore, denying there would be random checks of the public.
  • (10) Crushing their dream of denying healthcare to millions of people will put them on that road to despair.
  • (11) Both of these bills include restrictions on moving terrorists into our country.” The White House quickly confirmed the president would have to sign the legislation but denied this meant that its upcoming plan for closing Guantánamo was, in the words of one reporter, “dead on arrival”.
  • (12) However ITV deny that any approach or offer, formal or informal, has been made.
  • (13) To organise society as an individualistic war of one against another was barbaric, while the other models, slavishly following the rules of one religion or one supreme leader, denied freedom.
  • (14) He denied that the probation service budget, which has been protected so far from 23% cuts, would be a particular target, but said it was not yet making the same level of savings as was being required of the police.
  • (15) Nepalese workers building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been denied leave to attend funerals or visit relatives following the earthquakes in the Himalayan country that have killed more than 8,000 people, its government has revealed.
  • (16) Authorities in most cities – from Chita in Siberia to Makhachkala in Dagestan – denied permission for the rallies.
  • (17) Planned Parenthood denies the accusations, saying it donates fetal tissue to medical research companies at no cost.
  • (18) However, a spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government denied any reports of a rift with the Treasury.
  • (19) There were numerous reports of looting and tampering with evidence, although rebel authorities angrily denied them.
  • (20) It could bring down the prime minister, though he denies it.