What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Opposite vs Different - What's the difference?

opposite | different |

In mathematics terms the difference between opposite and different

is that opposite is an additive inverse while different is the different ideal.

As adjectives the difference between opposite and different

is that opposite is located directly across from something else, or from each other while different is not the same; exhibiting a difference.

As nouns the difference between opposite and different

is that opposite is something opposite or contrary to another while different is the different ideal.

As an adverb opposite

is in an opposite position.

As a preposition opposite

is facing, or across from.

opposite

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (archaic)

Adjective

(-)
  • Located directly across from something else, or from each other.
  • She saw him walking on the opposite side of the road.
  • Facing in the other direction.
  • They were moving in opposite directions.
  • Of either of two complementary or mutually exclusive things.
  • He has a lot of success with the opposite sex.
  • Extremely different; inconsistent; contrary; repugnant; antagonistic.
  • * Dryden
  • Novels, by which the reader is misled into another sort of pieasure opposite to that which is designed in an epic poem.
  • * John Locke
  • Particles of speech have divers, and sometimes almost opposite , significations.

    Derived terms

    * opposite sex

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something opposite or contrary to another.
  • An opponent.
  • An antonym.
  • "Up" is the opposite of "down".
  • (mathematics) An additive inverse.
  • Derived terms

    * opposites attract

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In an opposite position.
  • I was on my seat and she stood opposite .

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Facing, or across from.
  • :
  • *
  • *:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
  • In a complementary role to.
  • :
  • See also

    * apposite

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    different

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Not the same; exhibiting a difference.
  • *
  • * 1971 , William S. Burroughs, , page 6
  • Enter the American tourist. He thinks of himself as a good guy but when he looks in the mirror to shave this good guy he has to admit that "well, other people are different from me and I don't really like them." This makes him feel guilty toward other people.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • Various, assorted, diverse.
  • * 2006 , Delbert S. Elliott et al., Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods: Successful Development in Social Context , Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521863575, page 19:
  • In any case, poor black respondents living in high-poverty neighborhoods are most likely to view their neighborhood as a single block or block group and to use this definition consistently when asked about different neighborhood characteristics and activities.
  • Distinct, separate; (used for emphasis after numbers and other determiners of quantity).
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Charles T. Ambrose
  • , title= Alzheimer’s Disease , volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
  • Unlike most others; unusual.
  • Usage notes

    * (not the same) Depending on dialect, time period, and register, the adjective may be construed with one of the prepositions (from), (to), and (than), or with the subordinating conjunction (than).
    Pleasure is different from'''/'''than'''/'''to''' happiness.''
    ''It's different '''than''' ''(or '''''from what'' )'' I expected.
    Of these, (term) is more common in formal registers than in informal ones, and more common in the US than elsewhere; (term) is more common in the US than elsewhere; and (term) is more common in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand than in the US. Style guides often advocate (term), by analogy with (term) rather than *(term) or *(term), and (term) and (term).

    Synonyms

    * distinct

    Antonyms

    * alike * identical * same * similar * undifferent

    Derived terms

    * different as chalk and cheese * different drummer * different ideal * different light * different strokes * horse of a different color * march to the beat of a different drum

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (mathematics) The different ideal.