a person or thing that is as different as possible from somebody/something elseHot and cold are opposites.What is the opposite of heavy?I thought she would be small and blonde but she's the complete opposite.Exactly the opposite is true.‘Is it better now?’ ‘Quite the opposite, I'm afraid.’Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjectivecomplete,direct,exact,…opposite + verbbe the case,be trueprepositionthe opposite of,the opposite tophrasesexactly the opposite,just the opposite,quite the opposite,…Seefull entry
Word Originlate Middle English: via Old French from Latin oppositus, past participle of opponere ‘set against’.Extra examples‘Light’ is the opposite of ‘heavy’.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.The effect was exactly the opposite to what he intended.The oboe tends to lose power in the upper register, but with the clarinet the opposite is the case.‘Is it better now?’ ‘Quite the opposite, I’m afraid.’I thought she would be small and blonde but she’s the complete opposite.Idioms
