Meanings
plural deferences
- countableuncountableThe willingness to carry out the wishes of others.
By tidying his room, he showed deference to his mother.
1 more example
Michael in turn benefits from Tom. He loosens up a bit, stops talking so much like one of the bad novels he used to read, and learns to give his intellect a rest once in a while in deference to the emotions.
1983 December 31, Kenneth Hale-Wehmann, “The Business of Sex and Affection”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 24, page 8
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna courteous expression (by word or deed) of esteem or regard
nouna disposition or tendency to yield to the will of others
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdéférence
- Englishdeference
From French déférence. Morphologically defer + -ence.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian почит, отстъпка
- почит (počit)great respect
- отстъпка (otstăpka)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
- съобразяване (săobrazjavane)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Catalan deferència
- deferènciagreat respect
Chinese Cantonese 尊敬, 敬重
- 尊敬 (zyun¹ ging³)great respect
- 敬重 (ging³ zung⁶)great respect
- 服從 /服从 (fuk⁶ cong⁴)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Danish ærbødighed
- ærbødighedgreat respect
Dutch eerbied, bereidwilligheid
- eerbiedgreat respect
- bereidwilligheidthe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Esperanto respektego, submetiĝo
- respektegogreat respect
- submetiĝothe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Finnish kunnioitus, arvonanto
- kunnioitusgreat respect
- arvonantogreat respect
- suostuvaisuusthe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
- kunnioitusthe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
French respect, déférence
- respectgreat respect
- déférencegreat respect
- déférencethe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
German Ehrerbietung, Respekt
- Ehrerbietunggreat respect
- Respektgreat respect
- Achtunggreat respect
Greek σεβασμός, σεβασμός
- σεβασμός (sevasmós)great respect
- σεβασμός (sevasmós)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Hungarian hódolat
- hódolatgreat respect
Irish ómós
- ómósgreat respect
Italian deferenza, deferenza
- deferenzagreat respect
- deferenzathe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Māori kauanuanu, ngākau whakaute
- kauanuanugreat respect
- ngākau whakautegreat respect
Polish szacunek, atencja
- szacunekgreat respect
- atencjagreat respect
- atentacjagreat respect
- posłuszeństwothe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Portuguese deferência, deferência
- deferênciagreat respect
- deferênciathe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Romanian deferență, deferență
- deferențăgreat respect
- deferențăthe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Russian уваже́ние, почте́ние
- уваже́ние (uvažénije)great respect
- почте́ние (počténije)great respect
- почита́ние (počitánije)great respect
- респе́кт (respékt)great respect
- послуша́ние (poslušánije)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
- поко́рность (pokórnostʹ)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
- усту́пчивость (ustúpčivostʹ)the willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Spanish deferencia
- deferenciagreat respect
Swedish aktning, vördnad
- aktninggreat respect
- vördnadgreat respect
- respektgreat respect
- hänsynthe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Tagalog pagiging masunurin
- pagiging masunurinthe willingness to carry out the wishes of others
Thai ความเคารพ
- ความเคารพ (kwaam-kao-róp)great respect
Turkish hürmet
- hürmetgreat respect
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with deference
All rhymes →Cite this entry
deference. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deference
“deference.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deference. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deference,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deference.
Source: deference on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.