as in opposite
something that is as different as possible from something else
the new administration had promised peace and prosperity, but what we got was the obverse: war and recession
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in reverse
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of obverse
Davey Winder, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
The obverse side will still feature the portrait of former President George Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser.
—Jordan D. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 3 Aug. 2023
Ross Perlin, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
But the two scary-sounding facts have happy-sounding obverses.
—Dominic Pino, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for obverse
Noun
The obverse side of the communications coin is that without TLS encryption, that information is there for anyone to sniff out.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
The obverse side will still feature the portrait of former President George Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser.
—Jordan D. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 3 Aug. 2023
Adjective
According to one estimate, 96 percent of the world’s population speaks just four percent of all languages, which means that the striking obverse is also true: just four percent of the world’s population speaks 96 percent of all languages.
—Ross Perlin, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
But the two scary-sounding facts have happy-sounding obverses.
—Dominic Pino, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for obverse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obverse
Noun
-
Best known for playing whatever the opposite of a manic pixie dream girl is on The Bear, Gordon is particularly good at giving you someone who takes the idea of desperate times requiring desperate measures, and maybe a manic episode or two, to extremes.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
24 July 2025
-
Really the opposite of the Biden administration entirely.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
For his career, Mullins has hit right-handed pitchers better than lefties, but Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns pointed to approach adjustments Mullins has made recently against southpaws (while citing the difficulty of putting too much stock in small samples of reverse splits).—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
2 Aug. 2025
-
Weaver has also been a reverse splits guy this season, though he’s been in a funk lately.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
As Blurton explains it, in the strength world, load and velocity often have an inverse relationship.—
Jenny McCoy,
SELF,
15 July 2025
-
Pictured here is an inverse head-and-shoulders formation that dates all the way back to the start of 2025.—
Frank Cappelleri,
CNBC,
9 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Obverse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obverse. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share