# opponent

Pronunciation: say "uh-POH-nuhnt" US /əˈpoʊnənt/, UK /əˈpəʊnənt/

## Noun

1. A person one competes against physically in a fight, sport, game, or contest.
   - Simple: A person you fight or play against in a sport, game, or contest.
   - _The champion faced a younger, faster opponent in the title bout._
   - _Tennis players adjust their strategy depending on each opponent's style._
2. A person who works or takes a position against someone or something, or tries to stop their progress.
   - Simple: A person who works against you or tries to stop what you want to do.
   - _Determined opponents blocked the merger at every step._
   - _She rallied her supporters against a well-funded opponent._
3. A person who objects to a policy, course of action, or set of ideas.
   - Simple: A person who is against a plan, idea, or way of doing things.
   - _Opponents of the reform argued it would raise costs for families._
   - _He emerged as the leading opponent of the proposed merger._
4. Someone on the other side of an argument, debate, or dispute from another person.
   - Simple: A person who argues against you in a debate or disagreement.
   - _He dismantled his opponent in the debate with three sharp questions._
   - _Talk-show opponents traded barbs over the controversial ruling._
5. In an academic disputation, the participant who opened the proceedings by raising objections against a proposed theological or philosophical thesis.
   - Simple: In old college debates, the person who started by arguing against the main idea.
   - _The opponent challenged each premise of the dissertation before the assembled doctors._
   - _Medieval disputations assigned both a respondent and an opponent to every thesis._

## Adjective

6. Acting in opposition; adverse or antagonistic toward someone or something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Working against someone or something, or standing in their way.
   - _He marshaled his troops against the opponent army at dawn._
   - _Opponent currents made the river crossing slow and dangerous._
7. Located in front of or directly facing something; opposite in position. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Placed in front of or facing something.

## Origin

Borrowed from Latin oppōnēns ("opposing"), the present active participle of oppōnō ("I oppose").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/opponent (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).