antithesis

 
Pronunciation: /anˈtɪθəsɪs/

noun (plural antitheses /-siːz/)

  • 1a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else: love is the antithesis of selfishness
  • a contrast or opposition between two things: the antithesis between occult and rational mentalities
  • [mass noun] a rhetorical or literary device in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed: figures of speech such as antithesis [count noun]: his sermons were full of startling antitheses
  • 2 [mass noun] (in Hegelian philosophy) the negation of the thesis as the second stage in the process of dialectical reasoning. Compare with synthesis

Origin:

late Middle English (originally denoting the substitution of one grammatical case for another): from late Latin, from Greek antitithenai 'set against', from anti 'against' + tithenai 'to place'. The earliest current sense, denoting a rhetorical or literary device, dates from the early 16th century