Definition of OPPONENT

Examples of opponent in a Sentence

Noun She is a formidable opponent in the race for senator. The team's opponents have not lost a game this season. He knocked out his opponent in the third round.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun That didn't sit well with Trump opponents, who criticized a team that once unified a nation. — Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, "'Miracle on Ice' U.S. hockey team responds to criticism for appearing at Trump rally," 24 Feb. 2020 Fewer people have been more vocal opponents of this 24/7 work culture than Dan Lyons, a former journalist who left the newsroom to work at startups in the mid-2000s. — Arielle Pardes, Wired, "Silicon Valley Ruined Work Culture," 24 Feb. 2020 The Pacers have defeated top-shelf opponents this season, beating the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers (twice) and Denver Nuggets. — J. Michael, Indianapolis Star, "Toronto Raptors send 'wake-up call' to Indiana Pacers with embarrassing blowout," 24 Feb. 2020 Tom Izzo now hopes that Ahrens’ return to relative health will allow Michigan State basketball to use his fifth-year senior at forward to create matchup problems for opponents. — Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan State basketball found success with the smaller lineup. Kyle Ahrens is the key," 23 Feb. 2020 There was speculation about whom the union might endorse, and whether one of Sanders’s more moderate opponents would benefit from this dispute. — Eric Lach, The New Yorker, "The Union at the Center of the Medicare for All Fight in Nevada," 22 Feb. 2020 The Beavers currently rank 75th in the NCAA’s NET rankings — right on the edge of that quadrant for road opponents — and still have three games left against the top half of the Pac-12. — Ryan Kartjestaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "USC needs another marquee victory to bolster its NCAA tournament hopes," 22 Feb. 2020 In this polarized age, to these consultants, microtargeting is a way to avoid putting your candidate’s ads in front of opponent’s supporters. — Jeremy B. Merrill, Quartz, "The hot new ways political consultants will try to win your vote," 21 Feb. 2020 That's when the NX300h should see fewer fill-ups and boost its value versus conventional opponents. — Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, "The Popular Lexus NX300h Makes Hybrid Crossovers Look Cool," 20 Feb. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective In four of Iowa’s five losses, opponent field-goal and 3-point accuracy rates have been so high as to peg the Hawkeyes as being somewhat unlucky in bumping up against a couple too many incredible shooting nights. — Marcus Mosher, USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire, "Michigan at Iowa college basketball odds, picks and best bets," 17 Jan. 2020 The Lions play host to local rival Athens Bible in an area game Monday at 7 p.m. Whitesburg will host area opponent Oakwood Adventist on Tuesday. — al, "Lindsay Lane’s Tommy Murr scores 52 points in victory," 10 Jan. 2020 Where Manchester City’s great strength is in making itself look good, at least part of Liverpool’s success can be explained by its capacity to make its opponent look bad. — Rory Smith, New York Times, "Liverpool’s Opponents: So Close, So Far, So Frustrated," 18 Oct. 2019 The Lions have surrendered only four passing touchdowns through four games, and their opponent passer rating is 80.3. — Brad Biggs, chicagotribune.com, "NFL power rankings for Week 5: Bears move back into the top 10 after their 3rd straight win," 1 Oct. 2019 On the other side of the ball, the Blazers’ defense held South Alabama to a measly 2-of-11 on third-down conversions and are now allowing a 21.4 percent opponent conversion rate (9-of-42) for the season. — Evan Dudley, al, "Instant analysis: UAB blows out South Alabama at home," 21 Sep. 2019 But ex-Invicta champ Felicia Spencer accomplished her goal of making her opponent look human. — Steven Marrocco, MMA Junkie, "UFC 240 results: Cris Cyborg cut, but outworks gritty Felicia Spencer," 28 July 2019 The Colts rank fourth in the NFL in opponent kickoff-return average, a product of Sanchez’s savvy as a kickoff specialist. — Stephen Holder, Indianapolis Star, "Colts' thumbs up, down: Jack Doyle, Jabaal Sheard starred this season," 1 Jan. 2018 The Lady Rams sank 85.7% (6-7) of their free throws and lost a Badgers-opponent season-high 26 turnovers to a season-high 14 steals by SHC. — Spring Hill College Athletics, AL.com, "Spring Hill women continue to roll with 73-46 win over Mobile," 24 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'opponent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.