opponent
/əˈpəʊnənt
/noun
1Someone who competes with or opposes another in a contest, game, or argument: he beat his Republican opponent by a landslide margin...
- In both contests Webb stopped his opponents in the first round with an awesome display of punching.
- If successful, the bidders win the whole game; if not their opponents win the game.
- Then they allowed their opponents back into the game to snatch victory with two late goals.
Synonyms
rival, adversary, opposer, the opposition, fellow contestant, (fellow) competitor, other competitor/contestant/player/candidate, enemy, foe, antagonist, combatant, contender, challenger, critic, dissenter, disputant, objector
1.1A person who disagrees with or resists a proposal or practice: an opponent of the economic reforms...
- Most importantly he was a vigorous opponent of giving the Bank of England independence.
- An ardent opponent of war, he made a packet from investing in military supplies.
- It is more accurate to say he was an opponent of the regime.
Synonyms
opposer, objector, dissident, dissenter, rejectionist
Derivatives
opponency
Origin
Late 16th century (denoting a person opening an academic debate by proposing objections to a philosophical or religious thesis): from Latin opponent- 'setting against', from the verb opponere, from ob- 'against' + ponere 'place'.