- a person or thing that is as different as possible from somebody/something else
- Hot and cold are opposites.
- the opposite of something What is the opposite of heavy?
- She says the exact opposite of what she means—it's confusing.
- the opposite to something The effect was exactly the opposite to what he intended.
- I thought she would be small and blonde but she's the complete opposite.
- Archie and Mike are polar opposites forced to live under the same roof.
- ‘Is it better now?’ ‘Quite the opposite, I'm afraid.’
- I ask you to do something and you go and do the opposite—why?
- I have never been asked to leave. In fact the opposite is the case.
Extra Examples- Exactly the opposite is true.
- Doubt is not the opposite of faith—unbelief is.
- In temperament, she was the complete opposite to her sister.
- Most people look forward to the weekend, but with him the opposite is true.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- complete
- direct
- exact
- …
- be the case
- be true
- the opposite of
- the opposite to
- exactly the opposite
- just the opposite
- quite the opposite
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: via Old French from Latin oppositus, past participle of opponere ‘set against’.Want to learn more?
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Idioms
See opposite in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee opposite in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishopposites attract
- used to say that people who are very different are often attracted to each other
Check pronunciation:
opposite