opposing

adj

"opposing" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“opposing” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,717 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#6,717
frequency rank, English
8
letters
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - That opposes or oppose; on the opposite side.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

opposing vs opposite
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for opposing
PropertyValue
Headwordopposing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters8
Frequency rank#6,717
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “opposing” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). opposing lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for opposing is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #6,717 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "That opposes or oppose; on the opposite side.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for opposing, with forms such as "opopsing", "oposing", and "oppoisng". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "opposite", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is opposing, spelled O-P-P-O-S-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    That opposes or oppose; on the opposite side.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: opopsing,oposing,oppoisng,opposign,opposingg,opposinng,opposnig,oppossing,oppsoing,poposing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of opposing - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

opopsing2oposing1oppoisng2opposign2opposingg1opposinng1opposnig2oppossing1
Edit distance from "opposing"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "opposing"?
"opposing" is spelled O-P-P-O-S-I-N-G.
What does "opposing" mean?
As an adjective, "opposing" means: That opposes or oppose; on the opposite side.
What words are commonly confused with "opposing"?
"opposing" is commonly confused with "opposite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "opposing" come from?
"opposing" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “opposing”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is O-P-P-O-S-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “opposite” - see the side-by-side comparison. opposing vs opposite
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list