MEANING
1. Opposite or reversed in direction, order, or relationship to something else.
2. An operation or function that reverses the effect of another specified operation or function.
Use it for
describing quantities moving in opposite directions; contrasting a relation with its reverse; stating an opposing pattern without claiming causationSeparates opposing variation from an operation that undoes another operation. Academic functions: Comparison / Contrast, Theory / Conceptual Language.
Words that belong together
- inverse relationship
- inverse association
- inverse order
On the page
The survey found an inverse association between commuting time and reported satisfaction.
The essay presents the social hierarchy in inverse order, beginning with those least visible in official accounts.
Subtracting five is the inverse of adding five.
The model restricts the transformation’s domain so that its inverse returns a unique original value.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- inverse
Usage notes
Adjective and count noun: inverse relationship; an inverse, inverses. Normally non-gradable. For a function, specify the domain on which an inverse exists. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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