oppositional

American  

[op-uh-zish-uh-nl] / ˌɒp əˈzɪʃ ə nl /

Rarely oppositionary

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.

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Other Word Forms

• unoppositional
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of oppositional

opposition ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oppositional

“They’re typically finding a way to not be oppositional to the White House but also saying things like, ‘We’re going to continue to talk about this in the way we have talked about it.’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

"Her experience of street-level oppositional politics from the Communist era could, however, see a return."

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

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 ● Apr. 10, 2025

The threats are part of an oppositional strategy that has ramped up in recent weeks, as reported by NBC News.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2024

It brought together the old revolutionary rhetoric, even deploying some familiar Jeffersonian language, with all the oppositional energy of the Whig tradition, then hurled it at assumption as the new incarnation of foreign domination.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

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