opposite
UK/ˈɒp.ə.zɪt//ˈɑ.pə.sɪt/
opposite adjective: located directly across from something else, or from each other.
Adjective
opposite (not comparable)
- Located directly across from something else, or from each other.
- She saw him walking on the opposite side of the road.
- Of leaves and flowers, positioned directly across from each other on a stem.
- Facing in the other direction.
- They were moving in opposite directions.
- Of either of two complementary or mutually exclusive things.
- He is attracted to the opposite sex.
- Extremely different; inconsistent; contrary; antagonistic.
- Novels, by which the reader is misled into another sort of pieasure opposite to that which is designed in an epick poem.1697, Virgil, “Dedication”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- , Book III
Particles of speech have divers, and sometimes almost opposite, significations.
- Synonyms:
- polar
Noun
opposite (plural opposites)
- A person or thing that is importantly (substantively) different from someone or something else.
- Especially, one that is different to the extreme degree of being the reverse.
- She is the opposite of her ex-boyfriend who abused her both physically and verbally nearly every day for five years. She now works as an advocate and supportive listener for others who have endured abusive relationships.
- Synonyms:
- polar opposite
- An opponent.
- The dogfighter fought closely with his opposite.
- A counterpart.
- The Swedish diplomat worked closely with his opposite from Denmark.
- An antonym.
- "Up" is the opposite of "down".
- An additive inverse.
Adverb
opposite (not comparable)
- In an opposite position.
- I was on my seat and she stood opposite.
- Where's the bus station? -Over there, just opposite.
- On another channel at the same time.
Preposition
opposite
- Facing, or across from.
- There’s a bus stop opposite the faculty entrance, right on the other side of the road.
- It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.[…]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01
- Synonyms:
- vis-à-vis
- In a complementary role to.
- He played opposite Marilyn Monroe.
- On another channel at the same time.
- The game show Just Men! aired opposite The Young and the Restless on CBS.
opposite meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
opposite in Hindi
- facing the other way
- विपरीत viprīt, उल्टा ulṭā, उलट ulaṭ
- located directly across from
- सामने sāmne
- contrary thing
- प्रतिकूल pratikūl
- opponent
- विपक्षी vipakṣī, प्रतिपक्षी pratipakṣī, प्रतिद्वंद्वी pratidvandvī
opposite in Tamil
- எதிர், எதிர்பதம், எதிர்மறை
opposite in Marathi
- opposite, contrary, reverse
- विपरीत viprīt
opposite in Urdu
- facing the other way
- اُلْٹا ulṭā, اُلٹی ulṭī
- across from
- ... کے سامنے ... ke sāmne
More languagesFewer languages
- opposite in Bengali
- প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী, বিরূদ্ধ বস্তু, বিপরীত বস্তু, প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী ব্যক্তি
- opposite in Telugu
- వ్యతిరేకం vyatirēkaṁ, వ్యతిరేకి vyatirēki, వ్యతిరేక పదం vyatirēka padaṁ
- opposite in Malayalam
- എതിർ etiṟ, വിപരീതം viparītaṁ
- opposite in Kannada
- ಎದುರು, ಅಭಿಮುಖ, ವಿರೋಧ, ವಿರುದ್ಧವಾದುದು
- opposite in Punjabi
- پُٹّھا puṭṭhā, پُٹّھی puṭṭhī, دُوجا dūjā, دُوجی dūjī
- opposite in Gujarati
- વિરુદ્ધ
- opposite in Odia
- ପରା parā
- opposite in Sanskrit
- विपरीतम् viparītam
- opposite in Tagalog
- tapat, kabaligtaran
- opposite in Arabic
- ضِدّ ḍidd, أَمَام ʔamām, آخَر ʔāḵar, عَلَى العَكْس ʕalā l-ʕaks
- opposite in Persian
- ضد, درمقابل
- opposite in Vietnamese
- trái ngược, đối nghịch, ngược, đối diện
Examples of opposite in a sentence
- The placement of the paintings mirrored the positions of the windows on the opposite wall.
- For a right-handed thrower, an in-turn is clockwise, and the opposite for a lefty.
- For a right-handed thrower, an out-turn is counter-clockwise, and the opposite for a lefty.
Synonyms of opposite
- polar
- polar opposite
- vis-à-vis
- antipodean
- antithetical
- contrariant
- contradictory
- contrariwise
- contrary
- contrasted
9 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of opposite
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | opposit |
| Noun | |
| plural | opposites |
Origin of opposite
Inherited from Middle English opposit, borrowed from Old French oposite, from Latin oppositus, perfect passive participle of oppōnō (“to oppose”). Compare oppose.
Words formed from opposite
Phrases with opposite
Questions about opposite
- What does opposite mean?
- Opposite means located directly across from something else, or from each other.
- What is opposite in Hindi?
- Opposite in Hindi is विपरीत (viprīt), उल्टा (ulṭā), उलट (ulaṭ). See Opposite meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is opposite?
- Opposite can be an adjective, a noun, an adverb or a preposition.
- How do you pronounce opposite?
- Opposite is pronounced /ˈɒp.ə.zɪt/ (UK).
Words near opposite in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: opposite (page history and authors); opposite (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); विपरीत (Marathi) (page history and authors); opposite (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); opposite (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); opposite (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ପରା (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-opposite.ogg.
Cite this entry: “opposite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/opposite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.