• 2-minute read
  • 3rd December 2014

Word Choice: Oppose vs. Appose

The verbs ‘oppose’ and ‘appose’ sound very similar and can easily be confused. However, ‘oppose’ is pronounced with an ‘uh’ sound at the beginning and ‘appose’ with an ‘ah’ sound.

They also have quite different meanings. You should therefore try your best to use the correct term in any given situation.

‘Oppose’ and ‘Opposite’

The verb ‘oppose’ has two distinct meanings:

  1. To face something else
  2. To disagree

You can therefore use ‘opposed’ to talk about the physical position of objects:

The door and window are opposed to one another.

Or ideas that seem to be in disagreement:

The protestors are opposed to the development.

The word ‘opposite’ can thus be used as a preposition describing the position of two objects that are opposed to one another:

The cowboys stood opposite one another in the noon sun.

Alternatively, ‘opposite’ can be used as an adjective when describing something as opposed to something else:

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The shop was on the opposite side of the street.

It can also be used as noun:

Sarah and Fred had little in common: he was her exact opposite!

Appose

The verb ‘appose’ means ‘place side by side’ or ‘juxtapose’:

The two edges were apposed and set in place with a clamp.

This term is rare, though. Unless you are using it in a very specific context, you may want to check that you don’t intend ‘opposed’ instead.

Nor should you get this verb confused with ‘apposite’, which is a common word meaning ‘strikingly appropriate or relevant’:

The use of the creepy music for the graveyard scene was apposite.

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Comments (4)
David Geraghty
12th March 2019 at 17:27
I believe the more common and possibly more correct use of "as apposed to" is when you are comparing two similar things and are emphasizing the difference, such as the example. "non failure" and "success" are similar but not identical. By comparing one to the other you emphasize the difference. "You should be testing for non failure as apposed to success." I'm willing to be educated here!
    Proofed
    13th March 2019 at 09:19
    Hi, David. The only standard uses of 'appose' are related to physical proximity (e.g. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/appose). In the example you've given, we would still say 'opposed to' despite the similarity between the opposed things (the 'opposition' simply comes from the fact that you're drawing a distinction between the two and expressing a preference for one over the other).
Roy Magnuson
12th February 2020 at 14:29
I met an 85 year old African American gentleman who had worked for the Railroad all his life. We talked for a long time about what was happening to the Railroad Industry. He worked for the Pullman Company as a porter in the railroad diners and sleeping cars. I said what do you think? He said it is "doz days as apposed to dez days" Some of my friends are questioning my use of the verb "apposed" as to the appropriate verb. O or A. Would appreciate your help. Thank You
    Proofed
    12th February 2020 at 16:57
    Hi, Roy. It's hard to say without knowing the context, but it does sound like 'opposed' would be correct there given standard English spelling. As we discuss in the post, 'apposed' is only used to mean 'juxtapose' or 'place side by side', which doesn't seem to fit the phrasing you give. Obviously, non-standard spellings can be used to reflect dialect or accent, but since 'appose' is a distinct word, it could cause confusion in this case.




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