Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

opinion

- definition

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

noun [countable] American English pronunciation: opinion

/əˈpɪnjən/

singular	opinion
plural	opinions

Other entries for this word

the attitude that you have toward something, especially your thoughts about how good it is
opinion of:
What is your opinion of her latest novel?
opinion on:
His opinions on genetic testing are well known.
have a good/high/low etc. opinion of:
He seems to have a low opinion of women.
give/express an opinion:
The students were not given the chance to express an opinion.
form an opinion:
She seems to have formed a good opinion of him.
share/be of the same opinion:
My wife and I share the same opinion on smoking.
a difference of opinion:
Despite our many differences of opinion, we remained good friends.
be of the opinion that:
The doctor was of the opinion that surgery was unnecessary.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of opinion
1. a.
  [uncountable] the attitudes and thoughts of a group of people
  public/popular opinion:
  Public opinion has turned against Senator McCormac in recent months.
  informed/expert opinion:
  We rely on expert opinion when deciding about technical matters.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of opinion
Collocations: opinion
Collocations
opinion
▪ advance, express, give, offer, venture, voice

phrase

in someone's opinion
used for saying what someone believes
People don't get enough exercise, in my opinion.
The prisoner was released, which in the court's opinion was wrong.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of opinion

Expressing yourself: opinion

Ways of giving your opinion

I think	the most usual and general way of giving your opinion
In my opinion/In my view	a more formal way of giving your opinion
It seems to me/All things considered	used for giving your opinion when you have thought carefully about a situation
If you ask me	used for giving an often critical opinion
To tell you the truth/To be honest/frank	a way of giving your opinion when you know that that people may not like what you say
Personally	used for emphasizing that you are giving your own opinion
As far as I'm concerned/The way I see it	used for giving your own opinion, when you realize that other people may not agree with you

Examples:

I think if you work hard you'll do very well on the exam.

In my view, it was a big mistake not to try to buy the company last year.

It seems to me that John's plans for the website are very promising. ♦ All things considered, I think we were right to cancel our flights.

If you ask me, both Paul and Simon are being extremely immature.

To be honest/To tell you the truth/To be frank, I thought the show was pretty terrible.

Personally, I think you should apologize to your brother.

The way I see it, the Democrats have no other choice. ♦ As far as I'm concerned, soccer is a much more interesting sport than football.

Metaphor: opinion

Metaphor

Someone's opinion of a situation is like a description of what they can see from the place where they are.

We want to get a range of different views.
In my view, women should be paid the same as men.
It's important to look at this from the child's point of view.
From a personal viewpoint, I'd say the whole thing was a disaster.
The book is written from the vantage point of the losers.
I see things from a slightly different perspective.
The President spelled out his vision of the future.
The way I see it/As I see it, people should take responsibility for their own lives.
From where we stand, there's only one answer to that question.
Try to see this from someone else's standpoint.
Let's look at this from a slightly different angle.
There's more to this than meets the eye.
He accused his opponents of suffering from tunnel vision.
She's always had a blind spot where her children are concerned.

➡ understand

This is the American English definition of opinion. View British English definition of opinion.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

View the pronunciation for opinion.

cyberloafing

using the Internet where you work, during working hours, for activities which are not work-related

BuzzWord Article

More BuzzWords

BuzzWord archive

Word of the Day

dark matter

a substance that scientists think exists out in space, but for which they have no direct proof

Open Dictionary

show a bit of ankle

… to reveal a small part of your intentions in order to attract support, without actually committing yourself to doing anything

add a word

More submissions

view entries

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog