as in opposite
something that is as different as possible from something else
the new administration had promised peace and prosperity, but what we got was the obverse: war and recession
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in reverse
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of obverse
David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
According to one estimate, 96 percent of the world’s population speaks just four percent of all languages, which means that the striking obverse is also true: just four percent of the world’s population speaks 96 percent of all languages.
—Ross Perlin, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
Davey Winder, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
The obverse side will still feature the portrait of former President George Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser.
—Jordan D. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 3 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for obverse
Noun
Kraft noted that the coin's obverse was identical to the 1806 British coinage, while the reverse was unique to the Bahamas.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
According to one estimate, 96 percent of the world’s population speaks just four percent of all languages, which means that the striking obverse is also true: just four percent of the world’s population speaks 96 percent of all languages.
—Ross Perlin, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
Adjective
The obverse side of the communications coin is that without TLS encryption, that information is there for anyone to sniff out.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
The obverse side will still feature the portrait of former President George Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser.
—Jordan D. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 3 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for obverse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obverse
Noun
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The result is a workforce that is smaller, less dynamic, and aging faster, precisely when adaptation to technological change requires the opposite.—
Jane Sadowsky,
Fortune,
8 Nov. 2025
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The two powerhouses were political opposites but became friends and cut deals.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Now, Tapachula is experiencing a reverse migration, as the United States sends planeload after planeload of deportees to the southern part of Mexico while the flow of migrants headed north has dried up.—
Daniel Gonzalez,
USA Today,
9 Nov. 2025
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Among them is the question of whether to use stained parts of the haversacks — possibly containing blood — on the straps’ reverse side, or to cut around them entirely.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Via an inverse point system, songs with weeks spent at No. 1 were assigned the greatest value, while those that spent weeks at lower spots earned less.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
30 Oct. 2025
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This new tax would have the inverse effect — instead of raising revenue, many hosts will simply stop hosting, which means less tourism and tax revenue for the city.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Obverse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obverse. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.
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