vastupidisele

Vastupidisele is a grammatical form of the Estonian adjective vastupidine, which means "opposite," "contrary" or "resistant." As an inflected form, vastupidisele typically carries a directional or recipient sense equivalent to "to the opposite" or "toward the contrary." It appears in contexts where the adjective is used with case marking to indicate movement, change of state, or reference to an opposing side or position.

In usage, vastupidisele may occur in descriptive phrases and set expressions, often alongside nouns or verbs that imply turning, shifting, or contrast. It is less common than adverbial alternatives such as vastupidi or vastupidiselt, which explicitly mean "on the contrary" or "conversely" in sentence-level contrast. Writers and speakers choose vastupidisele when the syntactic structure requires case marking for a noun phrase governed by movement or direction.

Etymologically, the form derives from the root vastupid- (from vastu "against" and elements related to pidama "to hold") combined with Estonian case endings. Its exact frequency and acceptability depend on register and construction; contemporary Estonian more often uses other comparative or adversative constructions for everyday contrast, while inflected adjective forms appear in formal or descriptive contexts. Examples: "Ta pöördus vastupidisele poole" (He turned toward the opposite side) and "Arutelud kaldusid vastupidisele" (The discussions tended toward the contrary).