Definitions for opposition
ˌɒp əˈzɪʃ ənop·po·si·tion

Princeton's WordNet(2.75 / 8 votes)Rate this definition:

1. resistance, oppositionnoun

   the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with

   "he encountered a general feeling of resistance from many citizens"; "despite opposition from the newspapers he went ahead"

2. opposition, oppositenessnoun

   the relation between opposed entities

3. confrontation, oppositionnoun

   the act of hostile groups opposing each other

   "the government was not ready for a confrontation with the unions"; "the invaders encountered stiff opposition"

4. opposition, opponent, oppositenoun

   a contestant that you are matched against

5. oppositionnoun

   a body of people united in opposing something

6. oppositionnoun

   a direction opposite to another

7. enemy, foe, foeman, oppositionnoun

   an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)

   "a soldier must be prepared to kill his enemies"

8. Oppositionnoun

   the major political party opposed to the party in office and prepared to replace it if elected

   "Her Majesty's loyal opposition"

Wiktionary(3.50 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. oppositionnoun

   The action of opposing or of being in conflict.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

2. oppositionnoun

   An opposite or contrasting position.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

3. oppositionnoun

   An opponent in some form of competition.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

4. oppositionnoun

   The apparent relative position of two celestial bodies when one is at an angle of 180 degrees from the other as seen from the Earth.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

5. oppositionnoun

   A political party opposed to the party or government in power.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

6. oppositionnoun

   In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to prevent the registration of a trademark or patent.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

7. oppositionnoun

   A position in which the player on the move must yield with his king allowing his opponent to advance with his own king.

   Etymology: From oposicion (whence opposition), from oppositio (translating Greek ἀντίθεσις), from the past participle stem of classical opponere.

Freebase(2.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Opposition

   Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state. The title of "Official Opposition" usually goes to the largest of the parties sitting in opposition with its leader being given the title "Leader of the Opposition". In First Past the Post assemblies, where the tendency to gravitate into two major parties or party groupings operates strongly, government and opposition roles can go to the two main groupings serially in alternation. In this context, the opposition forms a recognised, even semi-official "government-in-waiting". Its "opposing" can degenerate into a charade pending the eventual exchange of roles and occupation, or reoccupation, of the Treasury benches. The more proportional a representative system, the greater the likelihood of multiple political parties appearing in the parliamentary debating chamber. Such systems can foster multiple "opposition" parties which may have little in common and minimal desire to form a united bloc opposed to the government of the day.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Opposition

   op-ō-zish′un, n. state of being placed over against: position over against: repugnance: contrariety: contrast: act or action of opposing: resistance: that which opposes: obstacle: (logic) a difference of quantity or quality between two propositions having the same subject and predicate: the party that opposes the ministry or existing administration: (astron.) the situation of heavenly bodies when 180 degrees apart.—n. Opposi′tionist, one who belongs to an opposing party, esp. that opposed to the government. [Opposite.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. opposition

   A celestial body is said to be in opposition to the sun when their longitudes differ 180°, or half the circumference of the heavens.

Matched Categories

1. • Adversary
   • Body
   • Contestant
   • Direction
   • Military
   • Party
   • Relation
   • Resistance

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'opposition' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1072

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'opposition' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2919

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'opposition' in Nouns Frequency: #496

How to pronounce opposition?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say opposition in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of opposition in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of opposition in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of opposition in a Sentence

1. Ben Rhodes:

   We want to make sure that when we are working with our Gulf partners and Turkey ... that we have a common view in terms of which opposition deserves our support and that we're seeking to isolate more extremist elements of the opposition.

2. Georges Bataille:

   The essence of morality is a questioning about morality; and the decisive move of human life is to use ceaselessly all light to look for the origin of the opposition between good and evil.

3. Steve Schmidt:

   It's not as if there's a wave of good feeling around members of Congress or governors who all of a sudden are standing on principle in opposition to Trump's candidacy, you see a lot of trend lines converging at this moment that have been buffeting the Republican Party for a long time.

4. Geng Shuang:

   Some politicians in the U.S. associated the coronavirus with China, and smeared China. China expresses its strong anger and opposition to that, we call on the U.S. to stop finger-pointing at China. The utmost priority is for the international community to cooperate on fighting the virus.

5. Rudy Giuliani:

   Everything wrong with the government spying on a candidate of the opposition party. That's a Watergate.

Images & Illustrations of opposition

Popularity rank by frequency of use