apposite
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of apposite
1615–25; < Latin appositus added to, put near (past participle of appōnere ), equivalent to ap- ap- 1 + positus placed ( posi- place + -tus past participle suffix)
Explanation
Something apposite is fitting or relevant. It is apposite that radio stations play Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, and that your tax accountant takes vacation after April 15th. It all makes sense. The adjective apposite is derived from the Latin terms appositus and apponere. Ponere means to place, and thus apponere is "well-placed or well-put." Don't confuse apposite with opposite; they have almost opposite meanings!
Vocabulary lists containing apposite
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Right on Time
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The Gene
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Still, there is profit and occasional jollity in brisk recapitulations of seminal events by a fluent storyteller with an eye for telling detail and apposite quotation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025
On guitar, she played a mash-up of A Place In This World, from her debut album, and 1989's New Romantics, with the apposite lyric: "Heartbreak is the national anthem / We sing it proudly."
From BBC • Dec. 9, 2024
Depression had not previously been the subject of comedy, but it seemed appropriately apposite to a year of national self-celebration.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2023
Overnight, we heard the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen,” updated to reflect the kingdom’s new reality, its apposite monarch tweaked in the title, its pronouns abruptly swung back to the masculine.
From Washington Post • Sep. 15, 2022
He flung a swift glance at the man as he realized that his observation was apposite.
From Thrice Armed by Bindloss, Harold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
