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View synonyms for indefensible

indefensible

[ in-di-fen-suh-buhl ]

adjective

  1. not justifiable; inexcusable:

    indefensible behavior.

  2. incapable of being protected or defended against attack:

    an indefensible town.

    Synonyms: unprotected, defenseless, vulnerable

  3. incapable of being defended against criticism or denial; untenable:

    indefensible argument.



indefensible

/ ˌɪndɪˈfɛnsəbəl /

adjective

  1. not justifiable or excusable
  2. capable of being disagreed with; untenable
  3. incapable of defence against attack
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˌindeˈfensibly, adverb
  • ˌindeˌfensiˈbility, noun
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Other Words From

  • inde·fensi·bili·ty inde·fensi·ble·ness noun
  • inde·fensi·bly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of indefensible1

First recorded in 1520–30; in- 3 + defensible
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Example Sentences

Vaccine nationalism, where a handful of nations have taken the lion’s share, is morally indefensible and an ineffective public health strategy against a respiratory virus that is mutating quickly.

In an interview in the 1920s, Averell Harriman explained, “It is indefensible for a man who has capital not to apply himself diligently to using it in a way that will be of most benefit to his country.”

From Time

To be fair, Breyer doesn’t really try to defend the indefensible claim that Gorsuch does not take a “conservative” approach in the sort of politically charged cases that divide the Court, or that Ginsburg was not “liberal.”

From Vox

He wrote on Twitter that he has “never found the decisions of the council so indefensible.”

From Time

The execs we spoke to said it is inherently indefensible from a legal point of view.

From Digiday

Clay engineered the morally indefensible Missouri Compromise.

The recent and tragic story of what happened to Isabel Stapleton was, of course, outrageous, indefensible and unforgiveable.

Disproportionate death tolls, tragic though they may be, are an excuse to place Israel in an utterly indefensible position.

The misuse of Sandy funds is not only morally indefensible but potentially criminal.

It was perfectly clear already that the 1,600 Marines there were in imminent danger, their position almost indefensible.

There is nothing like a plaintive retort when your case is utterly indefensible.

Would not silence be construed by the world as meaning that the cause dear to the heart of God's people is indefensible?

They are not much worse than the Strephon and the Chloe class, in which our ancestors delighted; still, they are indefensible.

The nobles had resort to a still more indefensible measure than the expulsion of their métayers.

To go below this point of particular cost would obviously be indefensible from every point of view.

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indefectiblein defiance of