1
as in foes
one that takes a position opposite another in a competition or conflict
in martial arts, before the match begins, always bow to your opponent
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in enemies
one that is hostile toward another
the senator has many political opponents who would love to ruin his career
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of opponents
The core of key contributors across Cherundolo’s tenure plus remaining players from the class who arrived in the same window as Son – center back Ryan Porteous and midfielder Mathieu Choinière – were bolstered by transfers who align with how Dos Santos envisions LAFC challenging opponents.
—
Josh Gross, Daily News, 17 Feb. 2026
Some pundits predicted he would be outclassed by his more experienced political opponents during the presidential debates.
—John Blake, CNN Money, 17 Feb. 2026
Her Venezuela flub drew much mockery and scorn from political rivals and opponents.
—Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 17 Feb. 2026
The Antelopes have gone 9-5 against MWC opponents.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sierra Canyon and Loyola all have formidable pitchers capable of winning big games against top opponents.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2026
As the skaters were coming back toward the line, Stoddard fell and took out three of her opponents.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Seahawks backers booed their opponents vociferously and seemed to take an extra bit of pleasure in getting revenge for the debacle of the 2015 Super Bowl.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 9 Feb. 2026
Locally, however, opponents of the new compressor station have largely framed their case around the local impacts of the project within Brookfield — rather than the larger debate around climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
—John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 9 Feb. 2026
Josh Gross, Daily News, 17 Feb. 2026
Some pundits predicted he would be outclassed by his more experienced political opponents during the presidential debates.
—John Blake, CNN Money, 17 Feb. 2026
Her Venezuela flub drew much mockery and scorn from political rivals and opponents.
—Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 17 Feb. 2026
The Antelopes have gone 9-5 against MWC opponents.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sierra Canyon and Loyola all have formidable pitchers capable of winning big games against top opponents.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2026
As the skaters were coming back toward the line, Stoddard fell and took out three of her opponents.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Seahawks backers booed their opponents vociferously and seemed to take an extra bit of pleasure in getting revenge for the debacle of the 2015 Super Bowl.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 9 Feb. 2026
Locally, however, opponents of the new compressor station have largely framed their case around the local impacts of the project within Brookfield — rather than the larger debate around climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
—John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 9 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for opponents
Noun
-
Beyond the Epstein files, Democrats raised broad concerns about the Justice Department increasingly investigating and prosecuting the president’s political foes.—
Ana Ceballos,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Pine has outscored its playoff foes 24-0.—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The president has directed the department to pursue his personal enemies and has replaced career DOJ employees with inexperienced MAGA loyalists, sometimes to the detriment of his own agenda.—
Will Gottsegen,
The Atlantic,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Olivia, Bailey’s mother, was really Kate Smith, and her father was Nicholas Bell (David Morse), famous mob lawyer for The Syndicate, or The Organization, a group notorious for crimes and brutal retaliation against their enemies.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
India is one of OpenAI’s top markets for ChatGPT and alongside rivals like Perplexity are offering their products for free in a race to gain users and potentially lucrative data for further training.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
15 Feb. 2026
-
The North American rivals cannot meet until the gold medal game.—
Stephen Whyno,
Twin Cities,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
To that end, a bigger threat to clean power than the endangerment finding repeal could be new rules issued by the Treasury Department late last week that will restrict access to tax credits for projects that source parts from China and other adversaries.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Shooting and beating American citizens in the streets, demolishing history, covering up obvious crimes, threatening our allies, targeting political adversaries and using the office for personal enrichment are just a few things that have occurred and gone unchecked by powers that control Congress.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Extreme discounts relative to competitors are another warning sign, as no legitimate dealer is consistently selling silver below market price — not without a catch, anyway.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Elsewhere on Monday —As the Alpine skiing reaches its penultimate event, the weather made the men’s slalom course very difficult with only 44 of 96 competitors earning a score.—
John Cherwa,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Opponents.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/opponents. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
