oppositional

Rarely op·po·si·tion·ar·y

[op-uh-zish-uh-nl]

adjective

1. opposing, resisting, or combating; expressing a view or stance against something or someone.

   In experimental film one often finds an oppositional attitude toward mainstream culture, and a desire to forge an alternative.

2. expressing antagonism or hostility.

   Learning effective coping skills can reduce the negative influences of anger, oppositional behavior, and poor impulse control.

3. relating to or being in a contrastive, symmetrical, or complementary two-way relation.

   This remote-controlled wooden floor lamp is a simple, efficient, seemingly oppositional pairing of the natural and technological.

Other Word Forms

• unoppositional adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oppositional¹

opposition ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

If you read closely – and by that I mean look at a news report over the shoulder of a character doing oppositional research in the third episode, “Metamorphosis” – you’ll see that this is a future mankind allegedly asked for.

From Salon

Top of mind for me is to right our city’s relationship to water and to land, which has for so long been largely oppositional: trying to engineer against nature, bringing water to the desert, paving our rivers to control floods.

From Los Angeles Times

But Hutson’s conversion shows that in a country deeply dug into oppositional camps, where political views appear cement-hardened into place, there are still those open to persuasion and even willing to change their minds.

From Los Angeles Times

From its inception, the facility faced widespread public opposition, including mass protests, forest defense occupations, and hundreds of hours of oppositional public comment.

From Slate

Democrats, likely feeling empowered by their recent electoral victories in Wisconsin, are seizing upon this for oppositional messaging.

From Slate