defeat

1 of 2

verb

de·​feat di-ˈfēt How to pronounce defeat (audio)
dē-
defeated; defeating; defeats
Synonyms of defeatnext

transitive verb

1
: to win victory over : beat
defeated their archrivals in the championship game
The bill was defeated in the Senate.
2
a
: frustrate sense 2a(1)
defeat a hope
b
law : nullify
defeat an estate
3
obsolete : destroy
… his unkindness may defeat my life …—Shakespeare
defeatable
di-ˈfē-tə-bəl How to pronounce defeat (audio)
dē-
adjective

defeat

2 of 2

noun

1
: frustration by nullification or by prevention of success
The bill suffered defeat in the Senate.
2
a
: an overthrow especially of an army in battle
celebrate their defeat of the enemy
b
: the loss of a contest
his first defeat as a professional boxer
3
obsolete : destruction
… upon whose property and most dear life a damned defeat was made.—Shakespeare

Synonyms

Verb

Noun

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 
Choose the Right Synonym for defeat

conquer, vanquish, defeat, subdue, reduce, overcome, overthrow mean to get the better of by force or strategy.

conquer implies gaining mastery of.

Caesar conquered Gaul

vanquish implies a complete overpowering.

vanquished the enemy and ended the war

defeat does not imply the finality or completeness of vanquish which it otherwise equals.

the Confederates defeated the Union forces at Manassas

subdue implies a defeating and suppression.

subdued the native tribes after years of fighting

reduce implies a forcing to capitulate or surrender.

the city was reduced after a month-long siege

overcome suggests getting the better of with difficulty or after hard struggle.

overcame a host of bureaucratic roadblocks

overthrow stresses the bringing down or destruction of existing power.

violently overthrew the old regime

Examples of defeat in a Sentence

Verb We must be ready to defeat our enemies in battle. Our candidate defeated him in the last election. She finally found a solution to a problem that had defeated many other researchers. The bill was defeated in the state senate. Scientists from around the world are working to defeat the disease. Noun We weren't prepared for defeat. One small error could make the difference between success and defeat. After several tries we were forced to accept defeat. They celebrated their defeat of the enemy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The five-time champion spent the rest of the day struggling to his worst round at a major championship, a 10-over 82 that left Woods looking not only defeated but will force him to play his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday well out of the spotlight. —Dave Skretta, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024 The Royals defeated the Mets 11-7 at Citi Field and won their 10th game of the season. —Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 14 Apr. 2024 Katy Seven Lakes defeated Duncanville 2-0 at Birkelbach Field to advance to the Class 6A state championship at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Apr. 2024 One of his eventual Democratic opponents is Karen Gresham, who defeated him in a race for the Madison Elementary School Board. —The Arizona Republic, 13 Apr. 2024 Nixon objected to the hiring of Vanocur, who was known to be close to Kennedy, who defeated him in the 1960 presidential race. —Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024 The job of the Biden administration is to judge those weaknesses correctly, exploit them ruthlessly, and, with its allies, help Ukraine defeat an enemy as cruel and malignant as any in history. —Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024 Four days later, Faus struck out four and walked one in an 8-0 win against Downey, which defeated Cypress earlier in the season. —Dan Albano, Orange County Register, 10 Apr. 2024 In 2016, Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by less than a percentage point. —Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2024
Noun
By nightfall, her hopes had come true; the River Cats stormed back to clinch a 10-9 victory over the Chihuahuas — a fitting comeback for a city with much bigger sports dreams, where giving up on a team is the only sign of defeat. —Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2024 The Kings entered last year’s postseason as the No. 3 seed but lost to the Warriors in seven games, with the final defeat coming at Golden 1 Center. —Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 14 Apr. 2024 April 12, 2024 Hours later, Ohtani did not give an inch to the San Diego Padres, clobbering a first-inning home run and adding two scorching doubles in an eventual 8-7, 11-inning defeat. —Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024 Related article Real Madrid earns Champions League draw against Manchester City in ‘amazing’ all-time classic encounter Facing defeat, Raphinha’s smartly taken second goal and Andreas Christensen’s header gave Barcelona the edge going into the second leg on April 16. —Ben Church, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024 Though the men’s final brought in slightly more viewers than last year’s championship game, UConn’s 75-60 defeat of Purdue drew about 4 million less than the women’s final, the outlet reported. —Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024 Conspiracy theorists were flooding the airwaves and social media with false accusations that Dominion’s voting technology, in use in 28 states, was partly to blame for Mr. Trump’s defeat. —David Enrich, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024 Nevsky is lionized in Russian history as the leader who repulsed several attacks from the west, notably his defeat in 1242 of the Livonian Order that sought to spread Western Catholicism into regions where Eastern Orthodoxy was predominant. —Alexander Gabuev, Foreign Affairs, 9 Apr. 2024 The stadium tax question on ballots throughout Jackson County met a resounding defeat Tuesday night, with around 58% of voters opposing the measure. —Natalie Wallington, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defeat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English defeten, defaiten "to ruin, destroy, nullify," in part verbal derivative of defet "disfigured, null and void (in law)," borrowed from Anglo-French defait, defet, desfet, past participle of defaire, desfaire "to undo, put an end to, destroy, nullify," from de-, des- de- + faire "to do, make," going back to Latin facere; in part borrowed from Anglo-French defeter, derivative of defet — more at fact

Noun

in part noun derivative of defeat entry 1, in part borrowed from Middle French defaite, noun derivative from feminine of defait, past participle of defaire, desfaire "to undo, destroy, kill" — more at defeat entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Noun

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of defeat was in the 15th century

Phrases Containing defeat

Dictionary Entries Near defeat

defeasible

defeat

defeatism

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Defeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defeat. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

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Kids Definition

defeat

1 of 2 verb
de·​feat di-ˈfēt How to pronounce defeat (audio)
1
: to destroy the value or effect of
the lawyers defeated the will
2
: to win a victory over
defeated their team
defeatable
-ˈfēt-ə-bəl How to pronounce defeat (audio)
adjective

defeat

2 of 2 noun
1
: the act or an instance of making ineffective by prevention of success
the bill suffered defeat by Congress
the defeat of one's hopes
2
a
: an overthrow of an army in battle
b
: loss of a contest (as by a team)

Legal Definition

defeat

transitive verb
de·​feat
1
a
: to render null
third parties will defeat an attached but “unperfected” security interest—J. J. White and R. S. Summers
b
: to prevent or undo the effectiveness or establishment of
defeat jurisdiction
defendant took stand and defeated intoxication defense—National Law Journal
2
a
: to prevail over
b
: to thwart the claim of
defeat creditors
an intent to defeat the surviving spouse of his…elective share—Tennessee Code Annotated
defeat noun
Etymology

Transitive verb

Anglo-French defait, past participle of defaire to undo, defeat, from Old French deffaire desfaire, from de-, prefix marking reversal of action + faire to do

More from Merriam-Webster on defeat

Nglish: Translation of defeat for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of defeat for Arabic Speakers

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