What does defensive mean ?

[101questions]

I think defensive means defending yourself?

I sometimes see op may post something. People may come along and reply. There may need misunderstandings along the way. Or the op jumped on. The op the tries to explain. And some people then post . Telling the op they are being defensive. I feel like it's used as a weapon to shut down the op.

But then I get a bit confused because it feels ls like it's used as something negative. But then surely the op has a right to stand up for themselves.

Have I totally misunderstood the whole meaning?

Defensive when used in that context generally means that somebody is overly anxious to challenge or to avoid criticism. Deflects any kind of blame by insisting people have misunderstood. Begins to introduce sympathy-garnering titbits when they don’t like answers. Drip feeds new information to try to win people around when they realise opinion isn’t going their way.

Defensive can also mean to defend oneself, but people with straight stories who are in the right don’t tend to need to defend their position in the first place.

Someone being defensive usually has the sense of taking things personally or as an attack when they aren't meant to be.