diametric
Britishadjective
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Also: diametral. of, related to, or along a diameter
-
completely opposed
Explanation
Diametric describes something having to do with a straight line cutting through a circle, which is probably what your geometry teacher means by diametric. It's also used for two things that couldn't be more different from each other. Outside of math class, diametric is most commonly used to mean "completely different." So you might say that your sociable, friendly cat is the diametric opposite of your shy dog. Or that your current French teacher, who's solemn and stern, is the diametric opposite of last year's funny, laid-back French teacher. Imagine these diametric opposites standing on opposing sides of a circle. The word comes from diameter and its Greek root diametros, "diagonal of a circle."
Vocabulary lists containing diametric
meter, metr
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Frankly in Love
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: meter, metr
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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.
“Then Covid hit, and there was a diametric change.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 15, 2025
But the nirvana many authorities assume teen life would be if unsullied by screens is the diametric opposite of teens’ reality.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2024
We used small moments, like both men washing their children’s dinner plates, to help us show the shared humanity of people who are diametric opposites.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2023
What followed in the 2013-14 series against England was the diametric opposite - one of the most intimidating fast-bowling performances of all time.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2023
In both these instances it would appear that the diametric band, originally homologous to wings, had lost its former significance.
From Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744 by Fewkes, Jesse Walter
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.
