opposition
/ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/
"opposition" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“opposition” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,635 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,635
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The action of opposing or of being in conflict.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | opposition |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #2,635 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “opposition” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for opposition is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,635 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for opposition, with forms such as "opopsition", "oposition", and "oppoistion". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English opposicioun, from Old French oposicion (whence French opposition), from Late Latin oppositiō, translating Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις (antíthesis), from the past participle stem of classical Latin oppōnō (“I set against”). Equivalent to oppo… The correct English form is opposition, spelled O-P-P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The action of opposing or of being in conflict.
- 2An opposite or contrasting position.
- 3The apparent relative position of two celestial bodies when one is at an angle of 180 degrees from the other as seen from the Earth.
- 4A political party or movement opposed to the party or government in power.
- 5In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to prevent the registration of a trademark or patent.
- 6A position in which the player on the move must yield with his king allowing his opponent to advance with his own king.
- 7The difference of quantity or quality between two propositions having the same subject and predicate.
Etymology
From Middle English opposicioun, from Old French oposicion (whence French opposition), from Late Latin oppositiō, translating Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις (antíthesis), from the past participle stem of classical Latin oppōnō (“I set against”). Equivalent to oppose + -ition.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: opopsition,oposition,oppoistion,opposiiton,opposision,oppositino,oppositionn,oppositoin,opposittion,oppossition,oppostiion,oppsoition,poposition
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of opposition - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “opposition”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-P-P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.