VocabauraVOCABAURA

opposite

adjective · noun · adverb

Simple meaning

Completely different; also, on the other side.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ahpuhsit

Say the bold part a little louder.

US recording
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɑp(ə)sɪt

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Located directly across from something else, or from each other.

    “She saw him walking on the opposite side of the road.”

  2. Extremely different; inconsistent; contrary; repugnant; antagonistic.

  3. Facing in the other direction.

    “They were moving in opposite directions.”

  4. Of either of two complementary or mutually exclusive things.

    “He is attracted to the opposite sex.”

noun

  1. An opponent.

  2. An antonym.

    “"Up" is the opposite of "down".”

  3. Something opposite or contrary to something else.

adverb

  1. In an opposite position.

    “I was on my seat and she stood opposite.”

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Located directly across from something else, or from each other.

Used this way, opposite is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“She saw him walking on the opposite side of the road.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • inverse , a specialist term, precise but narrower

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Locatedadjective

    “She saw him walking on the opposite side of the road.”

  • Facingadjective

    “They were moving in opposite directions.”

  • Eitheradjective

    “He is attracted to the opposite sex.”

  • Oppositeadverb

    “I was on my seat and she stood opposite.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “opposite”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Located / leaves

opposite sideopposite page

Facing

opposite direction

Inverted

opposite effect

Other combinations

opposite sexopposite enddirectly oppositeopposite bank

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • opposite numbernounCompound term

    A person or thing having the same function or characteristics as another.

  • opposite wordnounCompound term

    A word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: opponent

reverseoppositioncontraryinverseantonym

Antonyms

Sense: opponent

alternate

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “opposite” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.