Oppose
//əˈpəʊz// verb
verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To attempt to stop the progression of; to resist or antagonize by physical means, or by arguments, etc.; to contend against.
"to oppose the king in battle"
- 2 be against; express opposition to wordnet
- 3 To object to.
"Many religious leaders oppose cloning humans."
- 4 be resistant to wordnet
- 5 To present or set up in opposition; to pose.
"They are opposed to any form of hierarchy."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 set into opposition or rivalry wordnet
- 7 To place in front of, or over against; to set opposite; to exhibit.
"Her grace sat down […] / In a rich chair of state; opposing freely / The beauty of her person to the people."
- 8 fight against or resist strongly wordnet
- 9 act against or in opposition to wordnet
- 10 contrast with equal weight or force wordnet
Example
More examples"You have no right to oppose our plan."
Etymology
From Middle English opposen, from Old French opposer, from Latin ob (“before, against”) + Medieval Latin pono (“to put”), taking the place of Latin opponere (“to oppose”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.