Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseHolding starkly opposite views on an issue.
Origin
The idiom has been in use for at least a century http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/jul/23.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20060618034021/http://www.fmep.org/reports/special_reports/no10-winter2000/01-clinton_administration.html. It probably derives from a literal observation of political protests, where government buildings were insulated with barricades, and the government was said to not represent the people because they and the people were on opposite sides of the barricades.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
on opposite sides of the barricades. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20opposite%20sides%20of%20the%20barricades
“on opposite sides of the barricades.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20opposite%20sides%20of%20the%20barricades. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on opposite sides of the barricades,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20opposite%20sides%20of%20the%20barricades.
Source: on opposite sides of the barricades on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.