antithetical

Archaic, an·ti·thet·ic

[an-tuh-thet-i-kuhl]

adjective

1. of the nature of or involving antithesis.

2. directly opposed or contrasted; opposite.

antithetical

/ ˌæntɪˈθɛtɪkəl /

adjective

1. of the nature of antithesis

2. directly contrasted

Other Word Forms

• antithetically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of antithetical¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Greek antithetikós “setting in opposition, contrasting” (from antíthetos “opposed”) + -al; antithesis ( def. ), -tic ( def. ), -al ¹ ( def. ).

Example Sentences

It is antithetical to democracy and good governance.

From Salon

His father was a classical-music obsessive; his mother, an artist — tendencies that, at the time, were considered antithetical to working-class life.

From Los Angeles Times

His politics of vengeance and his desire to be the country’s first dictator are antithetical to his goal of getting into heaven.

From Salon

‘Degenerate art’ — or, in German, ‘entartete kunst’ — was a term coined by the Nazi Party in the 1920s to describe modern art, which was seen as antithetical to the Nazi project.”

From Salon

OpenAI was also set up as a not-for-profit company, meaning it would not aim to make money, but in 2019 it established a for-profit arm which Musk felt was antithetical to its original mission.

From BBC

Related Words

• contradictory