1. defensive - Noun
2. defensive - Adjective
3. defensive - Adjective Satellite
Serving to defend or protect; proper for defense; opposed to offensive; as, defensive armor.
Carried on by resisting attack or aggression; -- opposed to offensive; as, defensive war.
That which defends; a safeguard.
Source: Webster's dictionaryOperations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism have reduced the pace of military transformation and have revealed our lack of preparation for defensive and stability operations. This Administration has overextended our military. Barack Obama
Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything. Harry S. Truman
To me death is better than the defensive. Alexander Suvorov
And capital punishment, however ineffective it may be and through whatever ignorance it may be resorted to, is a strictly defensive act, - at least in theory. Benjamin Tucker
The more defensive a society, the more conformist. Ursula K. Le Guin
There is something inherently wrong, something out of accord with the ideals of representative democracy, when one portion of our citizenship turns its activities to private gain amid defensive war while another is fighting, sacrificing, or dying for national preservation. Warren G. Harding