opponent
noun
[ əˈpəʊnənt ]
• someone who competes with or opposes another in a contest, game, or argument.
• "he beat his Republican opponent by a landslide margin"
Similar:
rival,
adversary,
opposer,
the opposition,
fellow contestant,
(fellow) competitor,
enemy,
foe,
antagonist,
combatant,
contender,
challenger,
critic,
dissenter,
disputant,
objector,
Origin:
late 16th century (denoting a person opening an academic debate by proposing objections to a philosophical or religious thesis): from Latin opponent- ‘setting against’, from the verb opponere, from ob- ‘against’ + ponere ‘place’.
