polar opposition

noun

, Linguistics.

1. the relation between a pair of antonyms that denote relatively higher and lower degrees of a quality with respect to an explicit or implicit norm rather than absolute values, as the relation between tall and short or light and dark, but not between true and false.

Example Sentences

There was never any doubt that one or other of these films would win best picture, and the two movies readily lent themselves to polar opposition.

From The Guardian

Next door, Idaho presents a polar opposition to Oregon.

From The Guardian

But even that polar opposition reflects a certain parallelism: These movies both reflect the strengths and limitations of American indie cinema in the age of the Great Television Conquest.

From Salon

No; it was a faculty in polar opposition to the true faculty of conversation.

From Project Gutenberg

Being convinced by his opponent—i. e., convinced that his opponent's view is the right one—how can he retain his own original opinion, which by the supposition is in polar opposition.

From Project Gutenberg