affirmative defense

noun

A defense against a suit or criminal charge that asserts mitigating facts rather than contesting the main fact of the allegation.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounaffirmative defense (plural affirmative defenses)

plural affirmative defenses

  1. lawA defense against a suit or criminal charge that asserts mitigating facts rather than contesting the main fact of the allegation.

    D: Not guilty, Jack. She was there under duress. / J: That's an affirmative defense. You'll have to prove it.

    1995 November 8, Ed Zuckerman, Morgan Gendel, “Hot Pursuit” (21:37 from the start), in Law & Order, season 6, episode 5, spoken by Defense Attorney Danielle Melnick and Executive ADA Jack McCoy (Tovah Feldshuh and Sam Waterston)
Cite this entry
APA

affirmative defense. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/affirmative%20defense

MLA

“affirmative defense.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/affirmative%20defense. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “affirmative defense,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/affirmative%20defense.

Source: affirmative defense on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.