/an tith"euh sis/ , n. , pl. antitheses /-seez'/ .
1. opposition; contrast: the antithesis of right and wrong.
2. the direct opposite (usually fol. by of or to ): Her behavior was the very antithesis of cowardly.
3. Rhet.
a. the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas, as in "Give me liberty or give me death."
b. the second sentence or part thus set in opposition, as "or give me death."
4. Philos. See under Hegelian dialectic .
[ 1520-30; anti ( ti ) thé ( nai ) to oppose + -sis -SIS. See ANTI-, THESIS ]
Syn. 2. opposite, reverse.