set at defiance
verb1
To defy, flout; violate or disobey shamelessly.
- In the town of Angla […] no person may appear on horseback in the streets […]. In former days even Europeans were forbidden to ride on horseback in Angla; and missionaries who attempted to set the local prejudice at defiance have been pelted with sticks and dirt by the outraged natives.1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 8, page 45: