Meanings
noundefensiveness (usually uncountable, plural defensivenesses)
plural defensivenesses
- uncountableusuallyThe state or quality of being defensive.
The gay vs. straight confrontation has been dealt with before in movies and plays but never with the gay character in control and never so free of defensiveness or homosexual guilt.
1976 February 7, Don Shewey, “Haunted Host (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 32, page 14
Origin
Translations
Finnish defensiivisyys
- defensiivisyysstate or quality
Hungarian hárítás, elhárítás
- hárításstate or quality
- elhárításstate or quality
- védekezésstate or quality
- defenzivitásstate or quality
Cite this entry
APA
defensiveness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defensiveness
MLA
“defensiveness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defensiveness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defensiveness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defensiveness.
Source: defensiveness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.