9.37 'the opposite' and 'the reverse'

The adjectives 'opposite' and 'reverse' are used to indicate that something is as different as possible from the thing that has already been mentioned. They usually follow 'the'.

• It was designed to impress, but probably had the opposite effect.
• I don't do a lot of reading but my brother is just the opposite.
• In the past ten years I think we've seen the reverse process.
• This time the position is the reverse.

When 'opposite' is used attributively, it occasionally follows 'an'.

• Others of the same period took an opposite view.

You can sometimes use 'the opposite' and 'the reverse' without a following noun to refer back to something.

• I once heard a police commissioner say that we would have to learn to live with crime. The opposite is true; we have to learn not to live with crime.
• He has an excellent record of saying one thing and doing the opposite.
• We have gained better health by exchanging fat for more efficient muscles. The reverse is also true.
• It hasn't happened. The reverse has happened.