Defeated

Defeated is the past participle of defeat and an adjective describing someone or something that has been beaten, overcome, or unable to achieve a goal. It is commonly used to indicate a state resulting from opposition or competition, as in sports, military conflict, elections, or debates. As a participial adjective, defeated can modify a noun (the defeated team) or be used predicatively (the team is defeated).

Etymology: The word defeat comes from Old French defaite or defaire, meaning to undo or deprive of victory, from a root associated with undoing. The form defeated has been in use in English since the Middle Ages to describe the result of a contest or attempt.

Usage: In sports, defeat is used to report the outcome of a match (they were defeated 2–1). In military or political contexts, defeated often refers to a loss of a campaign or election, sometimes implying long-term consequences or the end of a party's influence. In legal or formal settings, a defendant or argument may be described as defeated if rejected by a court or failed to persuade a jury.

Nuance and related terms: Defeat can imply a temporary setback or a more definitive collapse. Defeated, as a noun phrase, can reference the losers as a collective. Related terms include defeat, defeating, defeats, and defeatist, which describes attitudes or policies characterized by resignation to failure.