Used to contrast two things, showing that one is different from or preferred to the other.
“The mayor favors a gradual rollout, as opposed to an immediate citywide ban.”
“She values practical experience, as opposed to purely theoretical classroom learning.”
'As opposed to' directly signals a contrast between two viewpoints, making it one of the clearest markers in a Reading Part 4 passage. When it appears, the sentence usually states exactly what separates the two sides' positions, which is valuable for questions about differences between arguments.
Synonyms: rather than, in contrast to, instead of