This is the 3217th most frequent Portuguese word.
defensiva
"Defensiva" means "defensive" or "defense stance" in English, referring to the act of protecting or shielding.
In this sentence, 'defensiva' is used as an adjective ('defensive'), describing the posture taken by the team in response to a situation.
A equipe adotou uma postura defensiva para proteger sua vantagem.
The team adopted a defensive stance to protect their advantage.
Here, 'defensiva' is part of the expression 'ficar na defensiva', meaning 'to become defensive', describing the person's reaction to criticism.
Ele ficou na defensiva ao ouvir as críticas.
He became defensive upon hearing the criticism.
In this example, 'defensiva' functions as an adjective to describe the type of strategy implemented ('defensive').