What Does Defensive Mean?

Defensive is an adjective, it describes a quality to defend. Example: Defensive weapons system. This describes the weapons which are used for protection. Another example: defensive behaviour. This describes a behaviour which tends to withstand attack or aggression. Defensive also indicates efforts to gain points over an opponent in an athletic competition or any other game. In psychology, protecting oneself from the outside influences or criticism or real or perceived threats to the ego, is termed as defensive behaviour.

Defensive driving or defensive medicine is something that is done as a precaution. It keeps away risk, danger, or other liabilities. Some of the words that could be used for defensive are: defending, mural; armed, armed cap-a-pie, armed at all points, armed to the teeth; panoplied; ironplated, ironclad; castellated, machicolated, casemated; loop-holed, defended; proof against. Defensive is also used in phrasal forms like stand on the defensive or act on the defensive or show fight.