defeated

[dih-fee-tid]

adjective

1. relating to or being the loser in a contest, election, battle, etc.; overcome or vanquished.

   For several days in succession, fragments of the defeated army straggled through the town.

2. frustrated, foiled, or thwarted, as plans, dreams, etc..

   He could not shake off a feeling of acute disappointment, of defeated hopes.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of defeat.

Other Word Forms

• quasi-defeated adjective
• undefeated adjective
• undefeatedly adverb
• undefeatedness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of defeated¹

First recorded in 1575–85; defeat ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; defeat ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

They include the customary anti-gambling holdouts Utah and Hawaii, and California, where ballot measures to legalize sports gambling were defeated in 2022.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He’s never entirely defeated, making him an apt metaphor for society’s largest ills.

Read more on Salon

The Manchester Central MP defeated Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson by promising to give grassroots members a louder voice and push for a "course correction" in government.

Read more on BBC

The republican ethos was to loot defeated enemies and share your good fortune by allowing your fellow citizens into your home to view the spoils.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

At the Bank of Japan’s last meeting in September, two board members proposed raising interest rates to 0.75% from the current 0.5%, but were defeated by a majority vote.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• conquered www.thesaurus.com
• crushed www.thesaurus.com