Inverse
/ˌɪnˈvɜːrs/noun
Something that is the total opposite or reverse of something else.
Bad health is often the inverse of good health.
Often appears as...
- inverse function
- inverse relationship
adjective
Opposite in position, direction, order, or effect.
The damage done to the car had an inverse effect on its value.
Often appears as...
- inverse proportion
- inverse square law
noun
In mathematics, the reciprocal relationship between two variables such that the product is a certain constant.
In the equation y = 1/x, y is the inverse of x.
Often appears as...
- inverse matrix
- inverse variation
Usage tips
Academic
noun
In computing, a process that returns an original input from an output.
In data encryption, an inverse function is used to decipher the message.
Often appears as...
- inverse kinematics
- inverse mapping
Usage tips
Technical
noun
Something that is the total opposite or reverse of something else.
Bad health is often the inverse of good health.
Often appears as...
- inverse function
- inverse relationship
adjective
Opposite in position, direction, order, or effect.
The damage done to the car had an inverse effect on its value.
Often appears as...
- inverse proportion
- inverse square law
noun
In mathematics, the reciprocal relationship between two variables such that the product is a certain constant.
In the equation y = 1/x, y is the inverse of x.
Often appears as...
- inverse matrix
- inverse variation
Usage tips
Academic
noun
In computing, a process that returns an original input from an output.
In data encryption, an inverse function is used to decipher the message.
Often appears as...
- inverse kinematics
- inverse mapping
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/3Figurative Use
Often used in discussions contrasting two extremes or outcomes.
His approach to studying is the inverse of mine; he plans while I improvise.
Pro Tip 2/3Non-Mathematical
In everyday language, 'inverse' shouldn't be confused with math-specific terms.
Her quiet nature is the inverse of her sister's loud personality, but that's not a mathematical comparison.
Pro Tip 3/3Common Relationships
'Inverse' is often used to describe a kind of relationship where one thing decreases when another increases.
There is an inverse relationship between exercise and stress levels.
Compare with
antitheticalconversecounteroppositereciprocalreverse
Never forget "Inverse"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
Give yourself permission...
you lose a child, somebody breaks your heart, they don't love you anymore, and all of a sudden, you're desperate for making sense out of this life, and, "Has anybody ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud?" Or the inverse -- something great. You meet somebody and your heart explodes.
Video examples
Chasing Rivers, Part 2:...
of what happens on the inverse, we tested for 21 heavy metals, this was one of the, just the higher ranges. The yellow line is the safety line for human interactions, of course, I was standing knee deep in the river that is just laden with zinc, just one of the many heavy metals it was high.
Video examples
Why do buildings fall in...
In an oscillating system, the frequency is how many back and forth movement cycles occur within a second. This is the inverse of the period, which is how many seconds it takes to complete one cycle. And a building's natural frequency, determined by its mass and stiffness,
Video examples
Stunning Moonlight...
you feel almost as though your feet might flash off from the ground and your fall upwards it's a kind of inverse vertigo it's a very wonderful and strange feeling extraordinary and it reminds me of why for as long as human culture has been recording itself it's
Video examples
A Simulated Mars Tour PIPE...
we do our exploring we come back we recompress for five minutes and then we can enter the habitat again around the corner is maybe the second most important feature to the have after the power system i'm our toilet inverse without water no flushing and then one
Video examples
How computers are...
The problem is with this operator. So, division -- we've used division because it's the inverse to multiplication, but as I've just said, the multiplication is a bit of a lie here. This is a very, very complicated, very non-linear operation;
Video examples
Sisonke Msimang: If a...
Secondly, I think often we are drawn towards characters and protagonists who are likable and human. And this makes sense, of course, right? Because if you like someone, then you care about them. But the inverse is also true.
Video examples
How Twitter needs to...
shares the same facts -- not whether those facts are truthful or not, but are we sharing the same facts as we converse? The third is How much of the conversation is receptive or civil or the inverse, toxic?
Video examples
Group theory 101: How to...
we still get that element. So for both turning the square and adding integers, our identity here is zero, not very exciting. Axiom every group element has an element called its inverse also in the group.
Video examples
The effects of...
that the volume of a gas is inversely related to pressure. So, any air-filled spaces, like a rockfish's swim bladder, or human lungs, will compress as they descend deeper and expand as they ascend.
Video examples
Give yourself permission...
you lose a child, somebody breaks your heart, they don't love you anymore, and all of a sudden, you're desperate for making sense out of this life, and, "Has anybody ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud?" Or the inverse -- something great. You meet somebody and your heart explodes.
Video examples
Chasing Rivers, Part 2:...
of what happens on the inverse, we tested for 21 heavy metals, this was one of the, just the higher ranges. The yellow line is the safety line for human interactions, of course, I was standing knee deep in the river that is just laden with zinc, just one of the many heavy metals it was high.
Video examples
Why do buildings fall in...
In an oscillating system, the frequency is how many back and forth movement cycles occur within a second. This is the inverse of the period, which is how many seconds it takes to complete one cycle. And a building's natural frequency, determined by its mass and stiffness,
Video examples
Stunning Moonlight...
you feel almost as though your feet might flash off from the ground and your fall upwards it's a kind of inverse vertigo it's a very wonderful and strange feeling extraordinary and it reminds me of why for as long as human culture has been recording itself it's
Video examples
A Simulated Mars Tour PIPE...
we do our exploring we come back we recompress for five minutes and then we can enter the habitat again around the corner is maybe the second most important feature to the have after the power system i'm our toilet inverse without water no flushing and then one
Video examples
How computers are...
The problem is with this operator. So, division -- we've used division because it's the inverse to multiplication, but as I've just said, the multiplication is a bit of a lie here. This is a very, very complicated, very non-linear operation;
Video examples
Sisonke Msimang: If a...
Secondly, I think often we are drawn towards characters and protagonists who are likable and human. And this makes sense, of course, right? Because if you like someone, then you care about them. But the inverse is also true.
Video examples
How Twitter needs to...
shares the same facts -- not whether those facts are truthful or not, but are we sharing the same facts as we converse? The third is How much of the conversation is receptive or civil or the inverse, toxic?
Video examples
Group theory 101: How to...
we still get that element. So for both turning the square and adding integers, our identity here is zero, not very exciting. Axiom every group element has an element called its inverse also in the group.
Video examples
The effects of...
that the volume of a gas is inversely related to pressure. So, any air-filled spaces, like a rockfish's swim bladder, or human lungs, will compress as they descend deeper and expand as they ascend.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Paul Di Filippo
American Writer
There must be a rule of thumb in pop-culture archaeology that states that the allure of any topic is inversely related to its assigned importance in the affairs of humanity. The more trivial the subject, the dearer it is to most of its partisans and the more worthy of scholarship. The smallest things in life often mean the most to people.
Quote examples
Whitney Wolfe Herd
American Businesswoman
When I first got started in this whole world of online connecting, we were combating this antiquated stereotype of who used online dating, and we really set out to make it popular with millennials. What I find to be so fascinating now is, I'm seeing an inverse in that trend.
Quote examples
Alan Kay
American Scientist
In the commercial world, you have this problem that the amount of research you can do in a company is based on how well your current business is going, whereas there actually should be an inverse relationship: when things are going worse, you should do more research.
Quote examples
Gilles Deleuze
An exhausted man is much more than a weary man. Does he exhaust the possible because he is himself exhausted, or is he exhausted because he has exhausted the possible? He exhausts himself by exhausting the possible, and inversely.
Quote examples
Joey Votto
Canadian Baseball Player
I don't perceive a lot of the things that a lot of people perceive as negative as a negative - and the inverse, I don't think a lot of the things people think are positive are positive, necessarily.
Quote examples
Kenneth Lonergan
American Playwright
A really good comedy, I think, is played as if it was real, and it's the circumstances that make it amusing. And I think that the - the inverse or the reverse is true for drama.
Quote examples
Aldous Huxley
English Novelist
Official dignity tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.
Quote examples
Bertrand Russell
British Philosopher
The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts.
Quote examples
Craig Bruce
Canadian Businessman
Time is a resource whose supply is inversely proportional to its demand.
Quote examples
Liz Vassey
American Actress
Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.
Quote examples
Paul Di Filippo
American Writer
There must be a rule of thumb in pop-culture archaeology that states that the allure of any topic is inversely related to its assigned importance in the affairs of humanity. The more trivial the subject, the dearer it is to most of its partisans and the more worthy of scholarship. The smallest things in life often mean the most to people.
Quote examples
Whitney Wolfe Herd
American Businesswoman
When I first got started in this whole world of online connecting, we were combating this antiquated stereotype of who used online dating, and we really set out to make it popular with millennials. What I find to be so fascinating now is, I'm seeing an inverse in that trend.
Quote examples
Alan Kay
American Scientist
In the commercial world, you have this problem that the amount of research you can do in a company is based on how well your current business is going, whereas there actually should be an inverse relationship: when things are going worse, you should do more research.
Quote examples
Gilles Deleuze
An exhausted man is much more than a weary man. Does he exhaust the possible because he is himself exhausted, or is he exhausted because he has exhausted the possible? He exhausts himself by exhausting the possible, and inversely.
Quote examples
Joey Votto
Canadian Baseball Player
I don't perceive a lot of the things that a lot of people perceive as negative as a negative - and the inverse, I don't think a lot of the things people think are positive are positive, necessarily.
Quote examples
Kenneth Lonergan
American Playwright
A really good comedy, I think, is played as if it was real, and it's the circumstances that make it amusing. And I think that the - the inverse or the reverse is true for drama.
Quote examples
Aldous Huxley
English Novelist
Official dignity tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.
Quote examples
Bertrand Russell
British Philosopher
The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts.
Quote examples
Craig Bruce
Canadian Businessman
Time is a resource whose supply is inversely proportional to its demand.
Quote examples
Liz Vassey
American Actress
Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension