Lost for a word...

I'm stubborn...

"Opposite" is too weak a word for my specific need.

I much prefer "diametric" but it's an adjective... Can't say "It was the diametry of..." because that word doesn't exist.

What I need to say is that something is like the yin to the yang. The absolute opposite, in the most extreme sense.

I tried to work out a sentence like "It was the diametric aspect/side/etc of..." But it's not an aspect/side of something if it's really totally diametric, so that doesn't work either.

It might work technically but it doesn't satisfy me.

I'm sorry if none of this makes any sense, my post would be far too long if I had to present all the background for this question.

Isn't there a good, extreme "anti-" word for this?

EDIT: Well, I found "antithesis". But this word is restricted to intangible concepts, isn't it?

 

Binary? Dichotomy/ Dichotomous? And you can use antithetical for anything, not just intangible things.

 

Antithesis was what immediately came to my mind. Polar opposite also works, if you don't mind going to two words.

You may also find a metaphor that fits your context, like "Samantha was Cain to Belle's Abel."

Contrasting two people, concepts, or entities is something you will frequently encouter as a writer or a reader. Be creative.

 

'Antithesis' for me, too. Perhaps 'antipode'?

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've written "Antithesis/Dichotomy" and will later decide on the final choice by coin toss

 

i'm curious. . . did you mean 'at a loss for'?

 

I certainly HOPE that is a joke!

 

Yes, it was a joke. Truth is I'm not really sure.

In the Yin/Yang example:
Is Yin the dichotomy or Yang, or is dichotomy rather the line that divides the two?

According to the dictionary it could seem that dichotomy is the actual division of something in itself.

(And yes, Mamamaia, that's what I meant...I wrote the post a bit too quickly.)

 

Dichotomy refers to a division in which there are two mutually exclusive parts...the yin-yang is a dichotomy....yin and yang are dichotomous....

 

"Yin and Yang are dichotomous."
"Yin and Yang are divided."

But can you say:
"Yin is the dichotomomy of Yang."
or would that be like saying:
"Yin is the divide of Yang."

Which would be technically incorrect, since the "invisible line" between them is the divide.

 

Dichotomy doesn't refer to the line that divides to things, but the two things and their existence as mutually exclusive and divided. So "Yin and Yang are dichotomous" isn't the same as saying "They are divided". But no, you couldn't say "Yin is the dichotomy of Yang."

 

That's what I suspected, thanks.

Antithesis it shall be, no coin toss needed.