Meanings
antipodes1
- uncountableThe place on the diametrically opposite side of the earth from a given point.
We should hold day with the Antipodes, If you would walk in absence of the sun.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i] - uncountableThe Southern Hemisphere.
1 more example
[…]a delighted shout from the children swung him toward the door again. His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. ¶ "Phil! You! Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow!" recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC - broadlyfigurativelyuncountableThe opposite of something.
The loud, rapid, eager tones, the incessant motion, the intense vital activity manifested in speech and action, are the very antipodes of the quiet, unimpulsive, unanimated Malay.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 1761 more example
The sleepy yet shrewd judge was the antipodes to confidence, but to Don Manuel he felt no hesitation in frankly stating his actions and their motives, from his first arrival in Spain to the present time.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 295
antipodes2
- pluralplural of antipode (back-formation)
Antipodes3
- The Southern Hemisphere.
- UKdatedAustralia and New Zealand.
Origin
antipodes · noun
- Ancient Greekἀντίποδες
- Englishantipodes
From Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀντίποδες (antípodes), from ἀντί (antí, “opposite”) + πόδες (pódes), plural of πούς (poús, “foot”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Polish antypody, antypody
- antypodyAustralia and New Zealand
- antypodyopposite of something
- antypodyopposite points on a globe
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with antipodes
All rhymes →Cite this entry
antipodes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antipodes
“antipodes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antipodes. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antipodes,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antipodes.
Source: antipodes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.